700,000 new homes by 2030

Singapore is expected to have 700,000 new homes by 2030. 

They'll be located in new towns, as well as existing estates and the central region. 

200,000 of these units will be completed by the end of 2016.

Speaking to reporters this morning, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan also addressed concerns of affordability. 

He said prices of Build-To-Order flats will not rise with resale flat prices. 

Mr Khaw added this has been the practice since he took over the ministry in 2011 and will continue till the housing market stabilises. 

He pointed out that stable BTO prices, also means government subsidies have also increased. 

Mr Khaw said newly-weds, or those hoping to get married, or buying a flat for the first time, do not need to worry.

The government plans to carve out three new towns in Singapore. 

They are Bidadari town where 11,000 private and public housing units are expected. 

Tampines North which is slated to have 21,000 housing units. 

And Tengah which will have 55,000 units and be almost the size of Ang Mo Kio Town.

In the next two to three years, Build-To-Order projects can be expected in Bidadari and Tampines North. 

While those in Tengah will come on stream later, in the next three to five years. 

Existing towns like Punggol will also continue to be developed. 

Punggol will have 96,000 units when completed - triple its current size. 

It will also be one of the largest HDB towns in Singapore.

And National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan says more can be expected with new HDB towns. 

"Because it is green field sites, we have maximum opportunity to plan even better new layout, new building forms, new typology which can ensure the quality of life there will be even better. We can now more or less accept that what you see in Punggol South is a lot better than many existing HDB town even though the population density there is even higher. But you ain't seen nothing yet!"

"Because Punggol North which we announced last year, complete with a model for people to see, and many people, experts, architects have seen it and they have told me it is a very good plan. You can be assured that Punggol North would be even better than Punggol South, what you see today." 

Key Executive Officer of ERA Realty Network, Eugene Lim, says expectations are high for new towns. 

"For example like Bidadari, it is seen as city-fringe housing. I think a lot of people have seen how for example, Bishan has evolved from a former cemetery, to a bustling and well sort after estate as it is today. So with Bishan being so successful, a lot of people have that same expectation of Bidadari and so there's a lot of interest and people are actually waiting in anticipation for Bidadari to take off. " 

The government also plans to build more homes in the central region like at the Kallang Riverside and Bukit Brown areas. 

Other areas include the Bukit Turf Club and Keppel. 

It's hoped this will allow more Singaporeans to live close to where they work.

Property firm Chris International's Director, Chris Koh, expects such supply to moderate resale HDB flat prices. 

"For a buyer today, he was already given one set of (cooling) measures announced earlier. So he's already said let's wait, let's see. And now you have another announcement that we're going to have a large supply coming up, and so he'll tell himself again, let's wait. The moment you have supply outweighing demand, then prices will have to adjust. So perhaps in the short term, we won't see the supply outweighing the demand yet because the demand is still very strong so these demand will soak up the supply and once we have all the supply soaked up and more supply coming in and demand doesn't change or demand comes down, then we should see price adjusting." 

But it's not just about building more houses in places like Bidadari. 

The government says there is scope to make parks more accessible. 

So there are plans to to let at least 85 per cent of Singaporeans live within 10 to 15 minutes walk of a park by 2030. 

This is up from the current 80 per cent.

Park connectors will also be extended from 200 kilometres to 360 kilometres. 

And a $43-million dollar National Cycling Pilot Programme is also underway to construct dedicated off-road cycling paths in seven HDB towns.


-By Olivia Siong