Debated in Parliament on 13 Apr 2015.
Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many Built-To-Order (BTO) and Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) applications under the Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS) have been made each year from 2011 to date; (b) how many of these applications each year have been successful; (c) what is the average number of unsuccessful applicants under MCPS per BTO and SBF exercise each year from 2011 to date; (d) what is the Ministry's plan to better help Singaporean couple applicants who wish to live near, and care for, their parents; and (e) whether the supply of flats is still meeting the expected demand for them.
Madam, I am sorry but my reply will contain a string of statistics. The number of BTO and SBF applications under the MCPS was about 14,000 in 2011, 18,100 in 2012 and 15,700 in 2013. There were 8,400 such applications between January and September 2014. The selection exercises after September 2014 are still in progress.
The success rates averaged 59%. The number of successful applications was 7,500, 11,000 and 9,600 in 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively. For the first nine months of 2014, 5,000 applications were successful. In particular, for BTO flats in non-mature estates, the proportion of successful MCPS applications increased from 67% in 2011 to 93% in 2014. So, it has become almost all successful.
The average number of unsuccessful MCPS applicants per BTO/SBF exercise has dropped from 724 applicants in 2011 to 578 applicants in 2014. For applications under BTO exercises, the average number of unsuccessful MCPS applicants has halved from 511 applicants in 2011 to 241 last year.
We have offered more than 100,000 new BTO flats between 2011 and 2014. This has cleared the demand backlog for first-timers. Today, almost all young couples, including those who apply under the MCPS, are successful in their first application for a BTO flat in the non-mature estates. Last November, we also converted the MCPS to a quota-based priority scheme, to give even greater assurance to families who wish to stay near or together.
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Besides the MCPS, we have the Higher-Tier CPF Housing Grant for resale flats to facilitate couples who wish to stay near or with their parents.
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