Debated in Parliament on 5 Jul 2022.
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for National Development with regard to HDB BTO projects launched in the last 10 years, what is the 25th percentile, median, average and 75th percentile of waiting times over the last 10 years based on the actual wait times for completed projects and the estimated wait times for projects that are still under construction.
There are various factors that affect the construction time of each BTO project, including site conditions and the height of the buildings. Projects with difficult site conditions or with very high storey-heights will require more construction time.
For HDB BTO projects launched in the last 10 years (2012 to 2021), the 25th percentile, median, average and 75th percentile of actual waiting times for completed projects are shown in Table 1 below.
The median estimated waiting time for HDB BTO projects that are still under construction is about 4.3 years. Besides the significant delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions over the last two years caused by both the pandemic and current geopolitical uncertainties, the longer median waiting time now can also be partly attributed to more high-rise HDB developments. In the past two years, HDB has been working hard to intensify housing yield to meet the strong housing demand. For example, 13% of BTO blocks launched in 2020 and 2021 are more than 30 storeys tall, as compared to just 3% of BTO blocks launched in the preceding five years.
With the improving COVID-19 situation and a more positive outlook in the construction industry, construction projects are, gradually, regaining momentum. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we expect things to get better going forward. HDB will continue to work hard to minimise delays and deliver new BTO flats to buyers as soon as possible, while ensuring that the safety and quality of our projects are not compromised.
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