The Housing Development Board (HDB) has released a statement after a woman took to TikTok to share that she had failed to secure a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat after ’13 applications’.
In a Facebook post on March 14, HDB said that the woman had applied 11 times for a four-room flat in BTO and Sales of Balance Flats (SBF) exercises between November 2020 and May 2023.
“As all her applications were for flats in popular locations such as Kallang Whampoa and Bukit Merah where demand significantly exceeded supply, she was unsuccessful in securing a chance to book a flat in her first 10 applications,” said HDB.
“In her last application under the May 2023 SBF exercise, Ms Chua was invited to select a flat but decided not to do so. She eventually bought a resale flat with CPF Housing Grants.”
@xinandxuan The BTO game won in the end, just my two cents on the balloting process. #sghomes ♬ original sound – Xin & Xuan
In Chua’s TikTok video posted on March 3, she also questioned why unsold flats in a BTO project were subsequently offered as SBF instead of being offered to her when she had a queue number during the BTO application.
She had balloted for a four-room flat in Bukit Merah Ridge in May 2022 and managed to get a queue number of 3,150, which she said was 2.5 times more than the number of flat units offered.
While there were a total of 202 balance units for that exercise, she claimed she was not informed that there were units available.
“I understand that sometimes, people might have selected a unit and given it up. But for over 200 units to be given up? I don’t think that makes sense,” she said.
