Parliament Matters

Press Releases

Government Land Sales Programme for Private Residential, Commercial and Hotel Developments for First Half of 2010

1      The Ministry of National Development (MND) today announced:

1. The Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for private residential, commercial and hotel developments for the first half of 2010 (1H2010); and



2. The supply of commercial space by Government agencies outside the GLS Programme in the first half of 2010.

Increase in Supply of Private Housing in First Half 2010 to Meet Demand
2      In view of the strong demand for private housing and improved conditions in the property market, Minister for National Development had announced on 14 September 2009 that the Government would reinstate the Confirmed List and replenish the supply of Reserve List sites in the GLS Programme for 1H2010 to ensure that there is adequate supply of private housing to meet demand.

3      In line with the earlier announcement, MND will place 8 residential sites, including 2 Executive Condominium (EC) sites, on the Confirmed List of the 1H2010 GLS Programme. The 8 Confirmed List sites comprise 4 new sites and 4 sites carried over from the 2H2009 GLS Programme. These sites can potentially yield about 2,925 residential units, close to the highest potential supply of about 3,000 units from the GLS Confirmed List¹ since the Reserve List/Confirmed List system started in 2H2001.

4      In addition, the Reserve List in 1H2010 will have 16 residential sites including 3 EC sites, and 2 mixed use sites where private residential units can potentially be built² . Of the 18 sites, 6 are new sites and 12 sites will be carried over from the 2H2009 GLS Programme (see details on the status of the sites in the 2H2009 GLS Programme in Appendix 1). In total, these 18 sites can yield about 7,625 private residential units.

5      The 1H2010 GLS Programme will therefore have a total of 24 residential sites and 2 mixed use sites where private housing can be built. Of the 26 sites, 10 are new sites and 16 sites will be carried over from the 2H2009 Programme. Overall, the 26 sites in 1H2010 (i.e. from both the Confirmed and Reserve Lists) can generate 10,550 private residential units, which is the highest from any half yearly GLS Programme since the Reserve List system started in 2H2001. The details of all the private residential sites in the Confirmed and Reserve Lists of the 1H2010 GLS Programme are given in Appendix 2.

6      All the 26 sites in the 1H2010 GLS Programme, including the 5 EC sites, are located in the Outside Central Region (OCR) or in locations in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) where more affordable private housing are expected to be built. They will therefore provide additional supply of more affordable private housing.

Hotel and Commercial Sites in the First Half 2010 GLS Programme
7      MND will add 2 new hotel sites, one at Robinson Road and the other at Robertson Quay, to the Reserve List of the 1H2010 GLS Programme. This will provide more variety of sites for hotel development to suit the accommodation needs of business travellers and visitors. The hotel site at Robinson Road, which comprises an existing conserved building that can be restored into a unique boutique hotel development, will widen the hotel options available in the Central Business District. The release of the hotel site at Robertson Quay, on the other hand, will help to build up the existing hotel cluster along Singapore River.

8      All remaining hotel, commercial, commercial & residential and white sites in the Reserve List of the 2H2009 GLS Programme will be carried over to the Reserve List of the 1H2010 GLS Programme.

Summary of the First Half 2010 GLS Programme
9      The 1H2010 GLS Programme will therefore comprise 8 Confirmed List sites and 34 Reserve List sites. The 42 sites will consist of 24 residential sites, 5 commercial sites, 1 commercial and residential site, 2 white sites and 10 hotel sites. These sites can potentially yield 10,550 private residential units, 417,740 sqm Gross Floor Area (GFA) of commercial space and 4,515 hotel rooms (see details in Appendix 2).

Other Government Supply to be Made Available in First Half of 2010
10      Apart from the GLS Programme, the Government also makes available other supply of land and properties through its various agencies.  MND works closely with other agencies to coordinate this supply of space with the supply from the GLS Programme.

11      The planned supply from the various Government agencies in the first half of 2010 can yield a total of about 43,000 sqm GFA of commercial space. These projects are to meet strategic economic or development objectives. The planned commercial space supply from these projects includes:

1. Commercial space at one-north (about 11,400 sqm GFA).



2. Leasing of vacant state properties for commercial uses (12,300 sqm GFA).



3. Localised retail facilities at Sentosa and community centres.

12      This announcement of the planned supply to be made available by the Government outside of the GLS Programme is to provide a complete picture of the overall Government supply of space for 1H2010.

Supply in the Pipeline Expected to be Completed in Next Few Years
13      Apart from the potential supply from the GLS Programme and other Government sources in the first half of 2010, there is additional supply from projects in the pipeline which have been initiated earlier, both from the Government and private land sources. In order to give a more complete picture of the supply situation in the next few years, URA has included in this section information on the various types of space from all sources of supply.

14      For the private housing sector, as at 3rd quarter 2009, there were about 59,700 private residential units in the pipeline, comprising supply from projects that were already under construction and those that had been granted planning approval but were not under construction yet. Of these, a total of about 32,200 new private residential units are expected to be completed between 4th quarter 2009 and 2012. Of the 59,700 units, about 22,200 units will be in Core Central Region, 17,300 units in Rest of Central Region and 20,200 units in Outside Central Region. However, the supply of 2,010 units from the GLS sites which were sold and triggered for sale in 2009 has not been included as submission for planning approval has not been made yet.

15      In addition, of the 59,700 private residential units in the pipeline about 34,120 units were still unsold. These comprised 2,960 units that had been launched for sale by developers and 10,453 units which had the pre-requisite conditions for sale and could be launched for sale immediately. The remaining 20,707 units with planning approvals did not have the pre-requisite conditions for sale³.

16      For the office sector, as at third quarter 2009, there is a total supply of about 1.09 million sqm GFA of office space from various Government and private land sources in the pipeline. Of these, about 933,000 sqm GFA of office space is expected to be completed between fourth quarter 2009 and 2012.

17      For the shop and hotel sectors, as at third quarter 2009, there is a total supply of about 524,000 sqm GFA of shop space and 15,494 hotel rooms in the pipeline, most of which are expected to be completed between fourth quarter 2009 and 2012.

18      A summary of the estimated pipeline supply of private residential units, office space, shop space and hotel rooms as at third quarter 2009 can be found in Appendix 3. The estimated pipeline supply is based on expected project completion dates provided to URA by developers on a quarterly basis. These completion dates will be updated when URA releases the fourth quarter Real Estate Statistics in end-January 2010.

* * * * *

¹This is in 2H2007 Confirmed List.

²This includes the white site at Jurong East Street 13 and the commercial & residential at New Upper Changi Road/Bedok North Drive.

³Refers to uncompleted private residential developments without pre-requisites for sale but with Written Permission or Planning Permission granted. The sale licences could be obtained within 5 working days and building plan approvals could be obtained within 7 working days from the date of application for cases where clearances from various technical agencies are obtained and relevant documents are in order during formal submissions.

>>back to top

Appendix 1

Status of the GLS Programme for the Second Half of 2009

1      The GLS Programme for the second half of 2009 comprised 38 sites on the Reserve List. To date, 7 sites have been triggered for tender, namely 5 residential sites at Chestnut Avenue, Serangoon Avenue 3, Dakota Crescent, Upper Thomson Road and Westwood Avenue, 1 commercial & residential site at Yio Chu Kang Road/Seletar Road and 1 hotel site at New Bridge Road. Of these 7 sites, 5 sites¹ have been sold, the tender for 1² site had closed on 5 November 2009 and is currently under consideration, and the tender for the remaining site³ will close on 8 December 2009.

2      In addition, 1 commercial site at Tampines Grande was withdrawn from the GLS Programme as it is affected by future infrastructure works.

3      As such, excluding the 8 sites which have been triggered for sale or withdrawn from GLS Programme, 30 sites remain unsold in the GLS Programme for the second half of 2009.

4      Based on market feedback, URA has also reviewed the planning parameters for the hotel site at Jalan Sultan/Victoria Street. In addition to the current use of the site which is predominantly for hotel development only, the successful tenderer for the site will be given an option to develop the site as a commercial & residential development. Under the commercial & residential development option, the developer will be required to provide a minimum quantum of 30% of the total Gross Floor Area for hotel use. The remaining GFA can be for residential, commercial or additional hotel uses, subject to prevailing Development Control guidelines.

* * * * *

¹These are the sites at Chestnut Avenue, Serangoon Avenue 3, Dakota Crescent, Yio Chu Kang Road/Seletar Road and New Bridge Road.

²This is the site at Upper Thomson Road.

³This is the site at Westwood Avenue.

Appendix 2

Government Land Sales Programme for First Half of 2010

⁽¹⁾The actual number of housing units, hotel rooms and commercial space could be different from that estimated depending on the actual plans of the developers in terms of mix of uses and the size of the housing units and hotel rooms.

⁽²⁾New sites introduced in 1H2010.

⁽³⁾Refers to the estimated date the detailed conditions of sale will be available and applications can be submitted.

⁽⁴⁾The maximum permissible gross floor area for the Punggol Point site is 3,000 sqm.

⁽⁵⁾In general, white sites can be developed for commercial, residential or hotel developments, or a mix of such uses. The use quantum in this table is an estimate based on probable sales conditions and typical mix of similar developments in the same locality.

⁽⁶⁾The Bukit Chermin site comprises 4 conserved black and white bungalows which are slated for adaptive re-use as part of the hotel development. The maximum permissible gross floor area for the site which includes the 4 conserved buildings is 10,000 sqm.

⁽⁷⁾The Robinson Road/Boon Tat Street site comprises a 4 -storey building, part of which is to be conserved.

Appendix 3

PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL UNITS IN THE PIPELINE EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED FROM THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2009

Note : The pipeline supply of office space detailed above excludes the pipeline supply of business park space (i.e. about 407,000 sqm of GFA which is expected to be completed between 4Q09 to 2012) as well as the additional supply of office space that can potentially be generated from sites in the GLS Programme for the first half of 2010.

OFFICE SUPPLY IN THE PIPELINE EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED FROM THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2009

Note : The pipeline supply of office space detailed above excludes the pipeline supply of business park space (i.e. about 407,000 sqm of GFA which is expected to be completed between 4Q09 to 2012) as well as the additional supply of office space that can potentially be generated from sites in the GLS Programme for the first half of 2010.

SHOP SUPPLY IN THE PIPELINE EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED FROM THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2009

Note : The pipeline supply of shop space detailed above excludes the additional supply that can potentially be generated from sites in the GLS Programme for the first half of 2010.

HOTEL SUPPLY IN THE PIPELINE EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED FROM THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2010

Note : The pipeline supply of shop space detailed above excludes the additional supply that can potentially be generated from sites in the GLS Programme for the first half of 2010.

>>back to top

BACK

Last updated on 9 November, 2009