Our thoughts on the new BTO Restrictions

As the property market heats up in Singapore and there are so many new restrictions surrounding BTOs, we thought we just share some of our views on the current situation and what we would have done if we hadn’t gotten our flat.

PSA: We are NO EXPERTS in housing, this is just our personal opinion based on what we see.

Just to get everyone on the same page, here is a quick summary of the tightening measures:

First-time BTO applicants who decline to select a flat when invited to do so will lose their priority status for 1 year from Aug 2023 onwards

Second timers who reject a flat when invited to do so will not be allowed to participate in HDB sales exercises for 1 year

The above 2 rules will be waived if you have less than 10 flats to select from for a new BTO. If you have participated in a SBF, the threshold will be lower.

So what does that mean? Essentially, the government is trying to send you an extremely clear signal that

Because of the fast diminishing land space in Singapore, you should take whatever BTO flat that you get and not be choosy.

BTOs are no longer a ‘good investment’ option because of the amount of uncertainty that you have in booking one.

So here comes to big questions - what would we have done? Both my partner and I agreed that we would have gone straight for a resale flat instead because of the following reasons:

We place a premium on choosing the specifics of our home and do not want to be tied down to a flat that we don’t like

If we chose a resale flat, the chances of us moving out would be much lesser and hence, would spend more on the renovation and furnishing to make sure that it can be a ‘forever home’

That’s our own personal opinion but you may disagree - feel free to let us know what you think in the comment section!