Percentage of Seniors above 60 Who Sold Their Flats before Applying for a New BTO or Resale Flat from 2020 to 2022

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for National Development from 2020 to 2022, what is the percentage of seniors aged above 60 who have already sold their flats before applying for (i) a new BTO or Sale of Balance Flat or (ii) a resale flat.

Mr Desmond Lee: Table 1 indicates the total number of unique new and resale flat applications HDB received in 2020, 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 from senior households comprising applicants above 60 years old 1 , as well as the number of senior households that had sold their flats before submitting their applications 2 .

Applications for new flats are subject to a ballot. Where there are more applicants than flats, some applicants may not be able to secure a flat. In contrast, resale flat applications are submitted after the buyer has exercised the Option to Purchase and, therefore, there is greater certainty that resale flat applicants will be able to secure their flat of choice. The greater certainty and shorter waiting time for resale flats may explain why a higher proportion of senior households sold their flats before submitting an application for a resale flat, compared to a new flat.

Note(s) to Question No(s) 45:

1 This refers to households where all applicants are aged above 60.

2 These applicants did not own a property at the point of application and their last-owned property was an HDB flat.