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Business Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Singapore acts to draw developers back to state land tenders
[SINGAPORE] Despite the uncertain global economic and political climate, the government will continue to provide stable land supply for private housing development in the second half of this year. Last Friday (Jun 13), the Ministry of National Development (MND) said it will release land for about 4,725 private housing units in H2 2025 through the confirmed list, a 6 per cent drop from the 5,030 units in H1 2025. These figures include executive condominium (EC) units, a public-private housing hybrid, with initial buyer eligibility and resale restrictions that are completely lifted 10 years after an EC project has been completed. Beyond the numbers, what is more important is that developers are being offered an appealing selection of plum sites that is likely to draw more of them to participate in government land sales (GLS) tenders than in the past 15 months. After all, it is only when these sites are sold to developers can the intended private housing supply be actualised and cater to home buying demand. This includes aspirational upgrading demand from those living in Housing & Development Board flats. Under the GLS programme, property developers are offered land through two channels. On the confirmed list, sites are launched for sale according to schedule, regardless of demand. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up In contrast, sites on the reserve list are launched for sale only upon successful application by a developer, or when there is sufficient market interest. By market watchers' reckoning, the package of sites MND has put together for the next-half confirmed list is so attractive that developers are unlikely to trigger for sale sites on the reserve list. All 10 residential sites – including two EC plots – on the H2 confirmed list are new. They offer a wide range of choices for developers. There are sites in the prime districts (next to Newton MRT station, and in Dunearn Road) and in city-fringe areas (in Tanjong Rhu Road, next to Singapore Swimming Club; and a plot in Kallang Avenue facing the waterway). There are also well-located plots in the suburbs (a site in front of Tanah Merah MRT station, another a stone's throw from Lentor MRT station and an EC site near Woodlands South MRT station). MND will also be offering a private housing site near Dairy Farm Nature Park, and an EC site in Miltonia Close facing a golf course and the Lower Seletar Reservoir. The new projects on these two sites may attract home buyers who prefer to live in a more nature-oriented setting. Bite-sized and more manageable sites The appeal of the latest confirmed list for developers is not only that it has a spread of eye-catching sites but that most of these are relatively bite-sized, making the total investment more manageable. There are no mega sites that can yield 700 to 1,000 housing units as seen in GLS tenders over the past few years. Five of the 10 plots on the H2 confirmed list can yield between 335 and 450 units. The parcel that can generate the most homes, 625 units, is in Dover Road. It has strong selling points: It is near the one-north MRT station and a string of educational institutions, from Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) and Anglo-Chinese Junior College to the Insead and Singapore Institute of Technology @ Dover campuses. The combination of well-located sites and palatable sizes is calculated to pull more developers to state tenders. The competition will raise the likelihood that the respective top bids will be high enough for the state to award the plots. Developer participation at state land tenders has been patchy in recent times. Excluding EC sites, tenders have closed for 21 sites under MND's GLS Programme over the past 15 months. Of these, 10 sites fetched either one or two bids. Two of these 10 sites were not awarded as the bids were assessed to be too low: the Jurong Lake District (JLD) master developer site and the Media Circle site for which the entire residential component is to comprise long-stay serviced apartments. There were also a couple of sites – out of the pool of 21 – that did not garner any bids: Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A), which included a mandatory long-stay serviced apartment component, and Media Circle (Parcel B). The tender for Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A) will be launched again this month, under the H1 2025 confirmed list; this time, long-stay serviced apartment use will not be mandated but can be allowed subject to approval. The other three plots – the JLD master developer site, Media Circle and Media Circle (Parcel B) – are available on the reserve list. Industry feedback on JLD master developer site Those poring through the details of the latest GLS Programme would have spotted an interesting nugget of information in a footnote pertaining to the JLD master developer site on the reserve list. The 6.5-hectare site, zoned white, was previously launched for tender under the H1 2023 confirmed list but not awarded. The minimum office quantum required for Phase 1 of the master developer site has been cut from 70,000 square metres (sq m) gross floor area (GFA) to 40,000 sq m. A spokesperson for the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) told The Business Times on Friday night that the minimum office quantum for the entire site, too, has been reduced from 146,000 sq m GFA to 100,000 sq m. The changes were made in end-2024 following extensive engagements with industry stakeholders after URA announced the decision in September last year not to award the tender for the site. The master developer site, meant to kickstart the next phase of development in JLD, was put on the market under a dual-envelope concept-and-price tender launched in June 2023. The tender closed in March 2024 with a consortium of five developers – comprising CapitaLand Development, City Developments, Frasers Property, Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsui Fudosan (Asia) – submitting two bids, with different concept proposals for the site. There were no other bidders. Six months later, URA said the tendered price of S$640 per square foot per plot ratio for the shortlisted concept was assessed to be too low. The site was then placed on the reserve list. URA has envisioned JLD as the 'largest mixed-use business district outside the city centre'. Industry players, however, have reservations about the depth of office demand in the vicinity of Jurong East MRT station. Generally, big-name tenants prefer to have their Singapore offices in prime Central Business District (CBD) locations such as Marina Bay and Raffles Place. Key factors cited include the prestigious address, talent retention, C-suites' preference, and employee commuting time tends to be more equitable from all corners of the island to the CBD. Despite the reduction in the minimum office quantum requirement, the maximum GFA for the entire master developer site remains unchanged at 365,000 sq m. However, the maximum residential GFA for the overall site has been increased to 186,000 sq m, of which a maximum 166,000 sq m can be for private apartments/condos. Both these figures are 20,000 sq m higher than the original numbers when the site was launched. Being allowed flexibility to develop a bigger quantum of private apartments/condo units which can be presold should positively impact a potential master developer's cashflow, noted analysts. URA's spokesperson said the reduction of the minimum office quantum requirement was made to 'provide developers with more flexibility in determining the mix of uses and to better pace the roll-out of office space for the master developer site'. For private housing sites, too, the authorities have been taking heed of developers' participation rates at GLS tenders, how they make a beeline for choicer sites and give mediocre sites a miss. Developers have also been giving feedback that sites that can generate fewer than 500 housing units would be more palatable. URA engaging developers and other stakeholders to better understand the market dynamics is definitely a step in the right direction, especially in the current uncertain environment.
Straits Times
13-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
All 17 town councils received top ratings in estate management ahead of GE2025: MND report
The operational report covered the 2024 financial year from April 2024 to March 2025. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG All 17 town councils received top ratings in estate management ahead of GE2025: MND report SINGAPORE – All town councils received top ratings for estate management in their last performance review done before the 2025 General Election. The 17 town councils had green ratings across four categories of assessment in the latest town council management report released by the Ministry of National Development (MND) on June 13. This operational report covered the 2024 financial year from April 2024 to March 2025. The general election was held on May 3. The town councils continued to uphold their top marks from the last report for FY2023, where they all received the green ratings – the first time since the reports were issued in 2010. Green is the highest rating, followed by amber and red. The four areas for assessment are estate cleanliness, estate maintenance, lift performance and service and conservancy charges arrears management. To get a green rating for estate cleanliness or maintenance, a town council must have fewer than four counts of specific issues observed per block. For cleanliness, the issues include the presence of stain, litter, bulky refuse and graffiti. The top issue for cleanliness across the town councils continued to be stain and litter, similar to the previous report. For estate maintenance, obstruction of common areas also continued to be the main issue. Other observations included unauthorised fixtures, damaged plaster or spalling concrete and storage of combustible items. Lift performance was assessed to be top tier if town councils had less than two lift faults per 10 lifts monthly, and less than one hour of downtime per lift monthly. Service and conservancy charges arrears management was assessed as green if less than 40 per cent of the monthly collectible fees were overdue, and less than four in 100 households owed arrears for three months or more. A separate report that assesses town councils' corporate governance and internal controls over the same period will be published at the end of 2025. This is after MND receives and reviews the town councils' audited financial statements and their auditors' reports. In the upcoming year, MND will not be publishing the operational or governance reports for FY2025, which covers the period from April 2025 to March 2026. It said this is meant to provide a transition period for the newly formed and reconstituted town councils after the recent general election, so they can stabilise operations after any handovers. MND said it would continue to monitor the town councils' performances during this period and share its feedback with them to support their transition. The ministry previously announced that two new town councils in Punggol and Jalan Kayu were formed on May 30, bringing the total to 19. Among them, 12 town councils were reconstituted due to electoral boundary changes. The publications of the town council management reports will resume from FY2026, said MND. 'This is consistent with the approach taken after GE2020,' it added. Goh Yan Han is political correspondent at The Straits Times. She writes Unpacked, a weekly newsletter on Singapore politics and policy. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
CNA
13-06-2025
- Business
- CNA
All town councils receive top ratings for second year running
SINGAPORE: All 17 town councils have scored "green" - the highest rating - across four indicators in the latest estate management report released by the Ministry of National Development (MND) on Friday (Jun 13), the second time in as many years. The report covered the financial year from April 2024 to March 2025. Singapore's General Election took place on May 3. Green is the top rating, followed by amber and red, and the town councils are assessed by their estate cleanliness, estate maintenance, lift performance, as well as service and conservancy charges (S&CC) arrears management. MND said on Friday it will not publish the estate management report for the financial year from April 2025 to March 2026. This is because the town councils were formed on May 30 following GE2025 and as such, they will "require a transition period to stabilise their operations after the handover of towns," the ministry added. "During this period, MND will continue to monitor the performance of the town councils and share our feedback with the town councils to better support their transition." The ministry said that it will resume publication of the reports from FY2026 (April 2026 to March 2027). 'This is consistent with the approach taken after GE2020,' added MND. REPORT OBSERVATIONS In terms of estate cleanliness, the ministry noted that all town councils before GE2025 scored "green" as they had less than four counts of cleanliness observations per block on average. The "green" rating applied across the board in relation to estate maintenance as these town councils had an average of under four counts of maintenance observations per block. As for lift performance, they all had less than two lift faults per 10 lifts, and less than one hour of downtime per lift each month. The frequency of faults and duration of downtime are measured by the Tele-Monitoring System. Lastly, they all had less than 40 per cent of the monthly collectible S&CC for the town overdue and fewer than four in 100 households that owed arrears for three months or more. The Town Council Management Report (TCMR) was first introduced in 2009. Assessments for estate cleanliness are made based on observations, such as the presence of stain and litter, bulky refuse, cobwebs, graffiti, moss, and faeces or bird droppings. As for estate maintenance, obstructions in common areas, storage of combustible items, unauthorised fixtures, damaged plaster/large cracks/spalling concrete and the presence of wild plants/weeds are taken into account. MND also said it will publish the corporate governance report for the period from April 2024 to March 2025 period in December, after it has received and reviewed the town councils' audited financial statements and their auditor's reports.
Straits Times
13-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Singapore trims private housing land supply on confirmed list amid economic headwinds
A total of 22 sites under the GLS programme were announced on June 13. PHOTO: URA SINGAPORE – Private residential land supply on the confirmed list under the second half of the 2025 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme fell to 4,725 units, but the land supply on the reserve list was increased, the Ministry of National Development said on June 13. Reserve list sites are launched for sale upon successful application by a developer, or when there is sufficient market interest. Mr Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at said the latest dip could be due to expected economic headwinds and uncertainty in the job market. Although the confirmed list supply dropped 6.1 per cent to 4,725 units – down from 5,030 in the first half of the year – this is still much higher than the land supply from 2015 to 2023, Huttons Asia senior director of data analytics Lee Sze Teck noted. A total of 22 sites under the GLS programme were announced on June 13. The 10 sites on the confirmed list and 12 on the reserve list will yield about 9,200 private residential units, up from 8,505 in the first half of the year. A total of 178,315 sq m gross floor area (GFA) of commercial space and 880 hotel rooms will also be made available. The addition of 990 EC units from two sites on the confirmed list is expected to boost the EC supply to about 2,000 units for 2025, the highest in a single year since 2014. The two EC sites are at Woodlands Drive 17 and Miltonia Close. The other confirmed sites are in Dover Road, Dunearn Road, Bukit Timah Road, Bedok Rise, Dairy Farm Walk, Tanjong Rhu Road, Kallang Avenue and Lentor Central. View of Dairy Farm Walk. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO ERA Singapore chief executive Marcus Chu said: 'The continued release of private housing supply aims to moderate recent bullish land bids in selected locations that have seen overwhelming interest. The release of sites, such as Dunearn Road and Woodlands Drive 17, could ease competition for nearby sites and potentially moderate land bids.' The Woodlands Drive 17 site, located near Woodlands South MRT station, is the fourth EC site launched in the north. Developers will likely take their cue from bids for an earlier Woodlands Drive EC site, whose tender closes in August, he added. The Dover site, which has the highest estimated residential yield of about 625 units and 3,000 sq m of commercial space, could help address the housing shortage in the area, Mr Lee said. 'Given the 50,000-strong workforce in one-north, this parcel near the Dover and one-north MRT stations will bring residents closer to key employment hubs,' he added. The reserve list includes six private residential sites, one commercial site, three white sites – which allow for a mix of uses – and two hotel sites. These sites can yield an additional 4,475 private homes, 173,800 sq m of commercial GFA and 880 hotel rooms, said the Ministry of National Development. The white sites for mixed-use developments at Jurong Lake District and Woodlands Avenue 2, as well as the short-term lease commercial site at Punggol Walk, have been carried over from the reserve list in the first half of 2025. To support vibrancy in the Central Business District, a new hotel site at Telok Ayer Street will be added to the reserve list. The plot is planned for mixed-use development comprising hotel rooms, long-stay serviced apartments, and retail spaces. Together with the existing hotel site at River Valley Road carried over from the previous reserve list, the two sites will allow developers to increase t he hotel room supply. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Business Times
13-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
MND to release land on confirmed list for 4,725 private housing units in H2 2025, down 6% from 5,030 units in H1
[SINGAPORE] The Ministry of National Development (MND) on Friday (Jun 13 ) said that it will release land on the confirmed list for about 4,725 private housing units in the second half-year, a drop of 6 per cent from the 5,030 units' land supply in the first half of 2025. The above figures include an executive condominium (EC) supply of 990 units in H2, compared with 980 EC units in the current half's government land sales (GLS) programme. ECs are a public-private housing hybrid, with initial buyer eligibility and resale restrictions that are completely lifted 10 years after an EC project has been completed. Confirmed-list sites are launched for sale according to schedule, regardless of demand. However, MND is upping the supply on the reserve list, where sites are launched for sale only upon successful application by a developer, or when there is sufficient market interest. In H2, it will offer land that can potentially generate about 4,475 private homes (with no EC supply). This is 29 per cent higher than the supply in the current half-year's reserve list, where the government offered land that can potentially generate about 3,475 private homes (none of which is an EC unit). A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up Overall, the 10 confirmed-list sites and 12 reserve-list sites for the H2 2025 programme are expected to yield around 9,200 private residential units (including EC units),178,315 square metres (sq m) gross floor area (GFA) of commercial space, and 880 hotel rooms, added the ministry. This compares with the 8,505 private housing units (including EC units), 242,900 sq m GFA of commercial space, and 530 hotel rooms that can be generated on the confirmed and reserve lists for H1. 'Robust pipeline' 'With the supply injection from the confirmed list in H2 2025, the total private housing supply to be launched in 2025 will be about 9,800 units,' MND said. This will bring the total pipeline supply of private housing (including EC) units to about 56,700 units. The figure comprises about 40,700 units with planning approval as well as about 16,000 units from GLS sites and awarded private-sector en bloc sale sites that have yet to be granted planning approval. 'This robust pipeline of private residential units will help to meet the medium-term housing needs of Singapore's population,' the ministry added. 'The supply consists of a good spread of sites across various geographical locations, supporting the development of both conventional private residential units and long-stay serviced apartments, to cater to both owner-occupation and rental housing demand.' MND noted that 'with the progressive ramp-up of private housing supply via the GLS programme over the last three years, property price momentum in the private residential market has moderated'. It highlighted that the total EC supply via the confirmed list for the whole of this year will be about 2,000 units, 'the highest in a single year since 2014'. The EC supply in the H2 confirmed list will help bolster the inventory of EC units available for sale. As at end-April, there were about 2,900 EC units available for sale, including units from GLS sites launched in H1 that have yet to be awarded. 'With the 990 EC units from the H2 2025 confirmed list, there will be a total of close to 3,900 EC units in the supply pipeline available for sale in the near term,' said MND. 'The government will continue to closely monitor economic and property market conditions, and, when necessary, we are ready to increase both public and private housing supply,' it added.
