UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS IN NEW HDB PROJECT

UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS IN NEW HDB PROJECT: 15.

Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for National Development (a) why unsuccessful applicants in the first phase of a new HDB project are not automatically invited to the second phase of the project without having to submit a fresh application; and (b) will HDB change its current system to make it easier for its flat applicants.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, I believe the Member is referring to the two Build-To-Order (BTO) projects in Yishun which

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HDB launched for sale in December 2007 and March 2008 respectively.

The first project, Jade Spring @ Yishun, was launched as an independent contract under the December 2007 BTO exercise. As this project had received good response, HDB expedited the design of another BTO project in Yishun for launch in March 2008. The intention was to provide flat buyers with another opportunity to apply for a flat in this vicinity. As the second BTO project was adjacent to the first site, HDB called it Jade Spring @ Yishun Phase 2. This may have inadvertently given the impression that they were under the same BTO exercise.

I want to clarify that the two projects are separate sales exercises. The projects were launched three months apart, and it was made clear to the applicants upfront that applications submitted would only apply for that particular project. Applicants participated in the balloting, and subsequent booking process, with the clear knowledge that should they not select a unit if given a chance, they will have to re-apply and re-ballot in subsequent projects.

As such, HDB cannot change the rule by placing unsuccessful applicants from an earlier BTO project in the front of a queue of a subsequent project, as suggested. It will not have been fair to the applicants who have booked a unit in the first project if applicants behind them in the queue are allowed to choose from not just the list of remnant flats, but also from a whole new batch of flats.

The Member also asked if HDB would be changing its current system to make it easier for flat applicants in future. HDB will take this feedback into consideration in its regular reviews.

Er Lee Bee Wah: I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State, in the application

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for Phase 1, has everyone been called up for the selection of the flats or some of them were not given a chance at all? And for those who were not given a chance, will they be given a chance in Phase 2 or do they have to submit a fresh application?

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: I would like to answer the second question first. The second question really is that if you are not successful in the first project, you would have to put in a second application. But I think part of the reason with this is that HDB is going down the list of all applicants. In fact, for the interest of the Member, in this particular project, Jade Spring @ Yishun, 384 units were on offer. We received 1,900 applications. If you just look at this number itself, it is actually a one-in-five chance. So for every five applications, one would be successful. But, in reality, HDB is still going down the list because there are many people who were given a chance, even though they are right in front in the ballot, they are not selecting the flats. In fact, we are now down to calling the 1,700th applicant, which means that if you have put in an application, you really stand a very good chance in being successful. So we are always balancing the need to give every applicant a chance to book a flat versus the number of BTOs that are coming on-stream. We understand that the demand is high and want to push through as many BTO projects as we can. So these two factors are being managed at the same time.

Mdm Cynthia Phua: Mr Speaker, Sir, I just want to ask about the definition of "a successful applicant" because once an applicant is successful, in terms of balloting, he is not given the additional chance for the subsequent balloting. The successful applicant is defined as one that has balloted a number but because of the size of the development, he may not be able to have the chance to select. Would the

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Ministry look into reviewing this definition of "a successful applicant"?

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: A successful applicant is one who has been given a chance to book but may choose not to. So I think that is a very fair definition. If you are given a chance to book and you choose not to, by definition, you have been successful. But if you do not choose for whatever reason, we should be calling you as successful. You have the choice to make that booking and you should really make use of that opportunity. I think the reason why this issue comes across is because there are many applicants who have claimed that they were unsuccessful in ballot. But when we looked up the case, we found that they were actually in the line for booking but they chose not to, and it is really depriving other people who were further down the queue from making the booking. We do review definitions such as this from time to time. But I think the basic essence is this. If you have been successfully called up and given a chance to make a booking, we suggest that you take that opportunity seriously.

Mdm Cynthia Phua: I just want to clarify because from what we understand from the residents, they have been successful in the ballot number, that means, given the chance to book but, because of the small development, they have not reached that level to select the booking, that means, they are not even offered to book the flat itself. So I just want to clarify whether that is the fact.

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: If that is the case, that is not called a successful ballot.