FROM mid-2025, singles and their parents who want to live near or with one another will get priority for Build-to-Order (BTO) public flats, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in his first National Day Rally on Sunday (Aug 18).
Currently, such priority is given to married couples and their parents who are buying BTO flats to live together or close to one another.
“We do this to make it easier for families to look after one another,” said PM Wong. “I think we shouldn’t limit this to married children. After all, many single children also want to stay close to their aged parents to take care of them.”
“So we will extend the priority access to all parents and their children – married or single.”
This will take effect from the middle of 2025, with the Ministry of National Development (MND) to provide more details “in due course”, he added.
Noting that singles can only buy two-room flexi BTO units, and only after turning 35, PM Wong said: “I’ve asked MND to see what more we can do for singles.”
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“It is hard for us to make any major near-term changes, because we are still ramping up the supply of new flats to catch up with the demand,” he added.
But extending priority access to singles seeking to live near their parents is “one move we can make now”.
Help with housing prices
PM Wong acknowledged concerns about housing prices, with several resale flat prices having made the headlines in recent months. The government tracks house prices closely, especially the house price-to-income ratio, he said.
In 2014, the median price of a four-room resale public flat, after grants, was 4.8 times the median annual household income. Over the years, this ratio fell to 3.8 in 2019. But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, it spiked up to five times.
“It is now slightly better, 4.8 now,” noted PM Wong. While still higher than in the pre-Covid years, it is significantly lower than the ratio in major cities such as London, Sydney and Hong Kong, he added.
The government is working to make flats more affordable by ramping up supply, he said, noting that waiting times for most BTO projects are now around four years.
“We aim to shorten this by building ahead of demand. So over time, more BTO projects will have waiting times of less than three years.”
To help lower-income couples get their first homes, the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant – of up to S$80,000 currently – will be increased, “especially for the lower-income groups”.
Minister for National Development Desmond Lee will share more details soon, added PM Wong.
“This is my assurance to all young Singaporeans: once you start work and wish to settle down, we will make sure that there is a HDB flat that is within your budget, in every region,” he said. “We will always keep public housing in Singapore affordable for you.”
