We all know what BTO refers to right? Oh, please say you’re not living under a rock.
Well if you don’t, it’s essentially Build-To-Order flats, which is one of the main ways Housing Development Board (HDB) sells new flats, besides Sale of Balance Flats.
So if you’re up for some interesting facts about BTOs, here you go:
Did you know this BTO system was launched in April 2001?
The BTO system is now into its 20th year so clearly it must be a system that’s working for the government. It replaced the previous method called Registration for Flat Systems (RFS) – which was essentially a guessing game for HDB on the number of flats they had to build and then try to sell the units after (doesn’t sound like the brightest move now that we have BTO system in place eh).
Also under the RFS, interested home buyers could only select the broad geographical zone of their desired flat location. Everything was unpredictable, as buyers would only know of the flat’s exact location and cost once they were invited to select their flats. There was also no guaranteed indication of the flat’s completion date and many also weren’t happy with where their houses were located.
As such, the government decided on the BTO system, where flats were only built when units were sold.
To date, there have been over 320 BTO projects launched!
Over the course of 20 years, there have a total of 32 BTO projects, where there were over 235,000 units up for grabs!
Did you know Pinnacle@Duxton is in fact a BTO flat? (Mind-blown!)
The Pinnacle@Duxton sales launch took place in May 2004, where there were a total of 1,848 four and five room units. It was a huge hit with the public as unlike other HDB flats, the development was located centrally at Cantonment Road, right by the CBD. If that wasn’t a big enough pull, there are even skybridges that links all seven blocks on the 26th and 50th floor.
Can you guess the largest BTO launch to date?
Well the answer is Rivervale Shores at Sengkang that was launched in 2017, where there were a total of 2,500 units for the public to bid for. The development is expected to be ready in 2022.
The average size of flats has dropped significantly – by more than 15sqm
BTO flats that were up for grabs last year had an average size of around 73 sqm, while the sizes BTO flats between 2001 to 2005 averaged at around 91sqm. Yes, flats in the past were bigger yet cheaper. Doesn’t that just make you want to enter a time machine right now? Do also note that it’s also probably due to the fact that earlier BTOs mainly had 4 to 5-room units, while today’s BTOs have a wider range of 2 to 5-room units.
Hopefully that’s got you engaged and excited for the upcoming BTO sales launch this month, where there will be a total of 3,020 units for you to try to ‘chope’. The two locations on offer for this upcoming launch – the first of two that’s slated for this year – are Toa Payoh and Sembawang.
In Sembawang, there will be a single cluster of flats along Yishun Avenue 2, where there will be 1,400 units of 2-room flexi, 3 to 5-rooms and also 3Gen units. A huge plus point is that Canberra MRT station is right by the flats.
As for Toa Payoh, there are two clusters of flats – one that’s along Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, where there are 920 units of 2-room flexi and 3 to 4-room units. The other is at Kim Keat Avenue where there are 700 units of 2-room flexi and 4-room options.
To find out more about the upcoming BTO Sales Launch, do visit SRX’s BTO page, where you can easily access information about BTOs such as details about upcoming BTO launches, its pricing forecast as well as estimated monthly cash payments above CPF payments.
Source: Editorial