Waiting times for newly launched Build-To-Order (BTO) projects will be three to four years, said Minister for National Development Desmond Lee at the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (REDAS) 64th-anniversary dinner.

Close to 70 per cent of the flats launched in 2023 have waiting times of four years or less.

Previously, wait times for BTO projects were four to five years during the peak of the pandemic.

"All this is possible by the collective efforts of Housing Development Board (HDB) and its construction patterns and their consultants, working hard, thinking out-of-the-box to try to shorten project waiting times, and to do it safely without compromising quality," said Lee.

He expanded on measures that HDB took, such as breaking larger BTO projects into smaller projects so that contractors could better manage resources, prioritising launch for BTO sites where the platform level is ready for construction and piloting innovative procurement methods to shorter project construction times.

"HDB will build on these efforts to launch more Short Waiting Time projects, which come with waiting times of less than three years. This will further strengthen our support for Singaporeans, especially first-timers, who want to own their first homes."

Three-month minimum stay period for serviced apartments

Lee also announced the plan to introduce a new class of Serviced Apartments to meet rental demand better.

Serviced apartments currently have a minimum stay requirement of seven days.

While it does cater to those who wish to stay longer, potential tenants have to compete with others, like tourists and business travellers, who want to stay for shorter periods.

"To ensure that Serviced Apartments can be more targeted in meeting demand for longer term stays, we will be piloting Serviced Apartments with a 3-month minimum stay period," Lee announced.

The long-stay serviced apartments will coexist alongside shorter-stay apartments with the existing 7-day minimum stay requirements.

They will start with two sites at Upper Thomson Road and Zion Road to gauge market demand before implementing more widely.

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will announce more details later.

Top photo from Desmond Lee/Facebook and HDB/Facebook