When you think of Sembawang, you may think of Sembawang Hot Spring Park, the only natural hot spring on mainland Singapore. But beyond that, Sembawang has been described by some as “ulu” or remote, a notion which Prime Minister Lawrence Wong strongly quashed in his recent National Day Rally.
Sembawang’s Maritime History
Once home to boat-dwelling Orang Seletar, kampungs, and cash crop plantations, Sembawang’s history was forever changed with the arrival of the British, who cleared the area to build their naval base in the 1920s.
Source: Roots.sg
This led to the construction of over a hundred black-and-white bungalows to house the British naval officers. Many of these houses still stand today, with the Singapore Land Authority making some of them available earlier this year to be repurposed for serviced apartments.
Further inland, villages were cleared, and swamps were filled as planning for Sembawang New Town began in the mid-1990s. The first HDB flats in the area were complemented by the opening of Sembawang MRT in 1996.
As Sembawang grew, it expanded east. The development of Canberra began in 2013, and Canberra MRT station opened in 2019.
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Two Future Stages Of Redevelopment In Sembawang
Further north of Sembawang MRT, redevelopment plans are in place for two new additions to the neighbourhood – the Sembawang North housing estate, and the future Sembawang Shipyard district.
The upcoming Sembawang North housing estate is expected to consist of 10,000 housing units, with 8,000 BTO flats and 2,000 private units when fully developed. Two migrant worker dormitories, Cochrane Lodge I and II, were closed earlier this year to facilitate the development of the new housing estate.
Source: HDB
Sembawang Beacon, which was launched in July, was the first BTO project for the new neighbourhood. The design for the neighbourhood will reflect Sembawang’s heritage as the site of the British naval base, as well as its successor, the Sembawang Shipyard.
The same maritime design elements are expected to be found in the Sembawang Shipyard area, which is expected to become a waterfront lifestyle district. When fully developed, Sembawang Shipyard is envisioned to have waterfront housing, leisurely seaside paths and transforming what used to be the world’s largest dry dock into a unique space for businesses, community sports and recreation.
This redevelopment will only take place once operations for the current Sembawang Shipyard wind down in 2028.
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Present Day Sembawang Is Already Looking To The Future
Beyond the two shopping malls and the hot spring park, there has been a significant investment in Sembawang’s development in the form of Bukit Canberra, which has opened gradually since since 2021. Bukit Canberra is an integrated development in the heart of Sembawang and follows the vision of Our Tampines Hub and One Punggol to create a sports and community hub in the centre of the neighbourhood.
Source: URA
Among other amenities, the facility features an indoor sports hall, the largest ActiveSG gym in Singapore, as well as a swimming complex with a sheltered six-lane swimming pool and an eight-lane lap pool.
Bukit Canberra is also home to the Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre, as well as the Sembawang Polyclinic. It is approximately an 8-minute walking distance from Sembawang MRT and is also accessible by several bus routes.
HDB Prices In Sembawang
Resale prices in Sembawang have been relatively affordable, though a higher demand for 3-room flats in the neighbourhood meant that median prices crossed the $500,000 mark for the first time this year.
| 3-Room | $520,000 |
| 4-Room | $636,900 |
| 5-Room | $690,000 |
Sembawang is also the only town to have a consistent stream of resale transactions for 2-Room flats, with median prices going from $360,000 to $376,500 over the past year.
Last month, Sembawang Beacon became the latest BTO launch in the neighbourhood, the first BTO project in the new Sembawang North housing area. Application rates for the BTO units were modest, with about 447 applicants for the 168 2-room units and 965 total applicants for the 607 3-room, 4-room, 5-room, and 3-Gen units.
Prices for 2-room flats at Sembawang Beacon were between $50,000 and $207,000, while prices for the remaining units were between $267,000 and $586,000.
Of course, you can expect application rates to increase for future BTO launches in Sembawang North as the area develops.
Read Also: July 2025 BTO Sales Launch Guide: Simei; Bukit Merah; Toa Payoh; Clementi
Educational Institutions In Sembawang
Reflecting Sembawang’s smaller population, there are only 5 primary schools in the neighbourhood, namely Wellington Primary School, Sembawang Primary School, Canberra Primary School, Endeavour Primary School, and Northoaks Primary School. There are only 2 secondary schools in the neighbourhood, Sembawang Secondary School and Canberra Secondary School. The closest tertiary institutions are Republic Polytechnic in Woodlands and Yishun Innova Junior College.
