2024 wrapped The biggest housing stories of the year and what's next

A new classification for Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, a fourth round of property cooling measures and more financial support for first-time home buyers were among key housing policies rolled out in 2024.

- Isabelle Liew

Here are five of the top housing stories of 2024, and what can be expected in 2025:

NEW BTO CLASSIFICATION ROLLED OUT

The BTO exercise in October 2024 marked the launch of a new flat classification system, sorting units into Standard, Plus and Prime categories based on their proximity to the city centre and amenities, and transport connectivity. It replaced the system of classifying estates as either mature or non-mature.

Prime and Plus flats, which come with greater subsidies, also have stricter resale conditions. These include a 10-year minimum occupation period (MOP) and a subsidy clawback upon resale. Resale buyers of these flats will also be subject to an income ceiling, which is currently set at $14,000 a month.

The new categories are:

Prime: Flats located close to the city centre that have good transport connectivity and are served by comprehensive amenities. These flats receive the most subsidies. The subsidy clawback for the first-ever Prime project, Crawford Heights in Kallang/Whampoa, was set at 9 per cent.

Plus: Located in attractive locations within each region across Singapore, such as near an MRT station or town centre. The subsidy clawback rate ranged from 6 to 8 per cent in October's BTO exercise.

Standard: These flats come with a five-year MOP and have no income ceiling for buyers on resale. The Housing Board said these will continue to form the bulk of the housing supply.

TIGHTER LOAN-TO-VALUE LIMIT

The loan-to-value (LTV) limit for HDB housing loans was lowered from 80 per cent to 75 per cent as part of a move introduced in August to cool the resale flat market.