THE Housing Board is offering for sale about 3,000 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats this year and another 3,000 to 4,000 flats next year in the Sengkang and Punggol areas.
This would build up critical mass quickly for the HDB to start developing Punggol Town Centre, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.
Said Mr Mah: 'We are concentrating on BTO projects in and around the (Punggol) town centre. As these projects are completed and people start to move in, then we will start to develop the town centre.'
He added that if the take-up rate of the BTO flats continues at the current pace, it would take another four to five years for the town centre to develop.
The BTO scheme was first launched in April 2001 as a result of changing demand patterns for new flats over the years. Under the scheme, construction begins only when the majority of flats in a project, say about 70 per cent, are taken up.
Speaking to the media after a party for the first BTO project in Rivervale Crescent in Sengkang yesterday, Mr Mah said the BTO scheme has helped to stabilise the oversupply of new flats.
Under the old system, flats were built based on the number of people in the queue for flats. But some applicants changed their minds after the flats were built and left the queue, leaving the flats unsold.
At its peak, there were some 20,000 unsold flats. About 5,000 to 6,000 unsold flats are still available.
The first BTO project in Sengkang was completed in May last year. It has 776 four- and five-room flats in seven blocks.
Since the pilot BTO launch, the HDB has successfully introduced 15 other sites at various locations in Sengkang, Punggol and the city area.
