HDB flat prices in Singapore are the highest they’ve ever been. The HDB Resale Price Index, which can be used to compare the overall price movements of HDB resale flats, crossed the 200 mark this year. That means HDB resale prices are now double what they were in 2009. This rapid rise in HDB flat prices, especially in the past 5 years, can be attributed to an imbalance in supply and demand, due to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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In response, the government has committed to launching more than 50,000 HDB units over the next 3 years. These HDB units can be found across the island, including growing towns like Tengah and Chencharu, new housing areas such as Woodlands North and Sembawang North, and future housing areas like Turf City and Pearl’s Hill.
Singapore’s land scarcity means that there are several types of spaces which must be decommissioned and demolished to make way for new HDB flats.
#1 Primary And Secondary Schools
Many primary and secondary schools are established to cater to larger cohorts of children, especially those born in the Chinese year of the Dragon. However, subsequent years often see a drop of births. As a result, several schools end up merging or shifting to new campuses, leaving older school buildings vacant for several years.
For example, the original site of Fuchun Primary School in Woodlands was established in 1985. The school then moved to new premises in 2010, and the old building was abandoned before being demolished in 2022. In its place will be Marsiling Ridge, a single-block BTO project launched in October 2024.
Similarly, Macpherson Secondary School was first established in 1967 at 107 Circuit Road. They moved to new premises at 121 Circuit Road in 2003. The school then merged with Broadrick Secondary School in 2017 and vacated the site. Eventually, the 121 Circuit Road site was returned to SLA and has since been torn down to make way for HDB BTO project Macpherson Weave, which launched in May 2021. Ironically, the original building at 107 Circuit Road, built in 1967, still stands.
#2 Higher Institutes of Learning
As education policies change in Singapore, the buildings that house higher educational institutions may become redundant. Earlier this week, it was announced that the former ITE headquarters and ITE Dover campus in Dover Drive are set to be demolished by HDB in 2026 to make way for new HDB projects with an estimated 6,000 units.
ITE had already shifted out of these buildings in the early 2010s, but the campus continued to be used as a holding site for other institutions – first the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and later by the Singapore Institute of Technology.
This is not the first time an ITE campus has made way for HDB flats.
The ITE College Central (Macpherson Campus) buildings were demolished in 2013, and that location is now Macpherson Spring, a BTO project that launched in February 2015 with 750 units.
The ITE College Central (Bishan Campus) buildings were demolished in 2018, and that location is now Bishan Ridges, a BTO project that launched in 2020 with 1,502 units.
#3 Cemeteries
Singapore’s land scarcity has made burial impractical and cremation the preferred choice for most Singaporeans. Over the decades, the Singapore government has been consistently acquiring cemetery land so that it can be utilised for residences. HDB towns like Bishan were built on Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng, a cemetery where Cantonese and Hakka immigrants were buried.
More recently, Bidadari cemetery was cleared over several years between 2001 and 2006 and transformed into the sprawling Bidadari estate with about 10,000 public and private homes.
Read Also: Estate Guide: How The Bidadari Estate Transformed From A Cemetery To A Green HDB Town
#4 Secondary Forests
Dover Forest is a secondary regrowth forest that’s about a half century old. It is home to several endangered species such as the straw-headed bulbul, the oriental pied hornbill, and the changeable hawk-eagle.
Several environmental studies conducted by HDB revealed that a total of 158 animal species and 120 plant species reside in Dover Forest.
The eastern half of Dover Forest has been zoned for residential use, with about 3,000 HDB units across three BTO launches. The first BTO project, Ulu Pandan Vista, was launched in December 2023 with 890 units.
#5 Racecourses
Singapore’s 180-year-long love affair with horse racing ended in October 2024 with the last horse race at Kranji.
Both Singapore’s second racecourse at Bukit Timah and third and final racecourse at Kranji will be redeveloped into residential towns. Bukit Timah Turf City is expected to have 15,000 to 20,000 public and private homes, while the Kranji racecourse will have 14,000 new homes.
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#6 Golf Courses
Several golf courses have been decommissioned and are expected to be redeveloped into residential areas. The most prominent of these was the home of Singapore’s oldest golf club, Keppel Club.
By the time the land lease expired in 2022, the Bukit Chermin golf course had expanded into an 18-hole competition course. As part of the Greater Southern Waterfront, the area will now be used to build about 6,000 HDB flats and 3,000 private homes. The first BTO project will launch in October this year.
Read Also: 5 Brownfield Sites That The Singapore Government Is Redeveloping
