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BUYERS of the new Plus and Prime flats will have between 6 per cent and 9 per cent of their resale price (or valuation) clawed back when they sell the flats, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said on Wednesday (Oct 16).

The first batch of Prime flats under the HDB’s new Build-To-Order (BTO) framework face a subsidy recovery rate of 9 per cent. The 312 Crawford Heights flats offered in the popular Kallang-Whampoa area are priced from S$390,000 for a three-room flat, while a four-room unit will cost from S$568,000.

At the starting prices, the BTO launch prices (excluding grants) for the Crawford four-room flats work out to roughly 36 per cent less than current resale prices for four-roomers in the area, which were transacted between S$890,000 and S$938,000.

Owners of Plus flats will have to fork out between 6 and 8 per cent of their resale price or valuation (whichever is higher) when they sell their units. Plus flats are being offered in seven projects in Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Geylang and Kallang-Whampoa.

The BTO selling prices for the 3,273 Plus flats available in the October launch range from S$187,000 for a two-room flexi at Central Trio @ AMK to S$530,000 for a four-room unit at Merpati Alcove.

The discount to current market prices ranges from 39 per cent for three-room units in Bedok sold at S$605,000 to S$663,000, to about 40 per cent for four-room resale flats transacted in Kallang-Whampoa at between S$868,000 and S$1.2 million.

The subsidy recovery is in place to “maintain parity with other BTO flat buyers who are not accorded additional subsidies”, HDB said.

Both Prime and Plus flats can only be sold after a 10-year minimum occupation period (MOP). Standard flats, which form the bulk of the BTO offering, have the usual five-year MOP.

In determining the subsidy recovery percentages of the Plus projects, considerations are taken for the additional subsidies required to keep individual Plus projects of varying market values affordable, said HDB.

In Bedok, for example, the Bayshore Vista and Bayshore Palms projects will command higher market values than Kembangan Wave due to their better locations nearer to East Coast Park.

So more subsidies are required to lower their flat prices so that they remain affordable to a wider pool of buyers, HDB said.

Aside from the subsidy clawback, buyers of Plus and Prime flats are also subject to tighter resale and rental conditions.

Resale is limited to buyers with an income cap of S$14,000 for families and S$7,000 for singles. Owners are also not allowed to rent out the entire flat, even after fulfilling the MOP.

“The additional subsidies, along with the more stringent ownership conditions, will help to keep these Plus and Prime HDB flats affordable, both at initial sale and subsequent resale,” said HDB.

The October BTO exercise will offer 8,573 flats, making up more than 40 per cent of the new BTO flat supply for 2024. Prices range from S$109,000 for a two-room flexi flat in Jurong West to S$644,000 for a 3Gen flat in Pasir Ris.

With the October BTO launch, HDB will also pilot a new “white flat” concept at the sole Prime project at Crawford Heights.

Under this new scheme, homebuyers can opt for an open concept flat and configure their living spaces without any internal partition walls.

For “white flats”, prices will be lowered by S$6,000 for a three-room flat and S$8,600 for a four-room flat, respectively, taking into account the non-provision of internal partition walls and some electrical points.

With this launch, eligible first-time singles can now apply from almost 2,000 two-room flexi flats across 10 projects where such units are available in Standard, Plus or Prime projects. Previously, singles were limited to BTO flats in non-mature estates.

Another 265 Community Care Apartments (CCA) will also be offered at this exercise. Merpati Alcove in Geylang is the fourth CCA project launched to support seniors to age independently in the community.

Earlier CCA projects were Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok, Queensway Canopy and Chai Chee Green in Bedok.