The Housing and Development Board (HDB) plans to launch about 17,000 Built-to-Order (BTO) flats in 2021, roughly the same number as were launched in 2020.

These flats will be located in a mix of both non-mature and mature estates, announced Minister for National Development Desmond Lee in a Facebook post on Monday (Dec. 21).

Mix of flats in mature and non-mature estates

The BTO flats being launched in 2021 are in a mix of non-mature estates such as Bukit Batok, Tengah, and Woodlands, and mature estates like Geylang, Kallang/Whampoa, Bidadari Estates in Toa Payoh, and Ulu Pandan Estate in Queenstown.

According to HDB InfoWEB, the February 2021 launch will include about 3,700 BTO flats: 1,120 in Bukit Batok, 760 in Tengah, 620 in Kallang/Whampoa, and 1,200 in Toa Payoh (Bidadari).

The first Community Care Apartments in Bukit Batok will also be available in the February 2021 BTO launch.

The Community Care Apartment programme is offered jointly by MND, the Ministry of Health (MOH), and HDB. It aims to help seniors age independently within the community, by integrating senior-friendly housing with care services that can be scaled according to needs.

The May 2021 launch will include around 3,870 total flats — 780 in Tengah, 1,540 in Woodlands, 170 in Bukit Merah, and 1,380 in Geylang.

New features

Lee added that the upcoming public housing developments will include some new features that will make the towns and estates mores liveable, efficient, sustainable, and safe.

These features include Smart Lighting, Smart Pneumatic Waste Conveyance Systems, and electric-vehicle ready carparks.

In addition, greenery will be weaved into the new HDB developments.

Lee wrote that while the plan is to launch a similar number of flats to what was launched in 2020, the Ministry of National Development (MND) will be monitoring the housing market closely because of the economic uncertainty due to Covid-19, and will calibrate the supply if required.

You can read his full Facebook post here:

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Top photo via Facebook / Desmond Lee.