The Straits Times, July 4, 1989
A NEW booking system which will enable HDB home buyers to find the flat of their choice more easily started yesterday.
It will match buyers with Housing Board flats by giving the buyers as much information about the units as possible. The system will enable them to pick a particular unit in a particular block in the estate of their choice.
This will be in line with the HDB's objective for the coming years -- "Quality and Choice in Public Housing".
Yesterday, applicants at the HDB Sales Section in Jalan Bukit Merah were able to look at detailed plans showing them where new flats will be built.
These plans also gave the locations of various facilities near the proposed blocks, like markets, hawker centres, bus interchanges, MRT stations, police stations, post offices, schools and HDB area offices.
The new booking system, which was earlier announced by the National Development Minister, Mr S Dhanabalan, will help applicants book specific units even before the flats are completed.
Home buyers gave the thumbs-up to the new system. They said that with more information about the available flats, they will be better able to make their choices as they would know if the flat commands a good view, has a good transport system or is near schools and markets.
The 45,000 applicants already on the board's waiting list will get priority for new flats built this year and next year. They will be given a list of 16 new towns where 46,000 new flats will be available. Letters will be sent to the 15,000 people at the top of the registration list in the next two weeks.
These applicants will be asked to choose up to eight new towns and rank them in order of preference. But the actual town they will be assigned will depend on what others ahead of them in registration number have chosen.
If they do not want to live in any of the 16 towns, they may opt out immediately and get a full refund of their downpayment.
The next 15,000 people on the list will receive their letters in late August while the last batch will be informed in October.
The board hopes to process all these applications by the end of next year. In the meantime, new applicants can select a flat under the Walk-In Selection Scheme. But if they are not interested in the scheme and want to be included in the new booking system, they may wait for the next quarterly building programme.
They may apply now but their applications will only be balloted around April next year. They will then choose from flats in the 16 towns not already picked by those on the waiting list.
The HDB hopes to announce its new detailed building programmes every three months from late next year. At the same time, it will announce its general plans every subsequent nine months.
Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.
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