HDB BTO May 2023: The 5 Announced Estates and Where We Hope the BTOs Will Be

Note: This article was written before the locations of the May 2023 BTO sites were announced and meant to be speculative. For updated information on the released site locations, do check back when HDB has released the May 2023 launches.

On 23 November 2022, HDB announced its November 2022 BTO exercise, the last launch for the year. The exact sites for the upcoming February 2023 BTO launches were also unveiled, as well as the HDB estates of the upcoming May 2023 BTO projects.

In the May 2023 launch, HDB says it will offer about 3,800 to 4,800 units of BTO flats in five towns: Bedok, Kallang/Whampoa, Queenstown, Serangoon, and Tengah (still expanding!). These estates are subject to change, depending on the finalised plans HDB has.

Upcoming May 2023 BTO Launch

As usual, we can only hazard some guesses and do our utmost to pinpoint the plausible sites for the May 2023 HDB BTO launch. We’ve got out our trusty URA Masterplan and Google Maps to help with the task.

If you’d like to check out our previous guesses (and see how accurate we’ve been), take a look here:

• HDB BTO Nov 2021: The 5 Announced Estates and Where We Hope the BTOs Will Be
• HDB BTO Feb 2022: The 3 Announced Estates and Where We Hope They Will Be
• HDB BTO May 2022: The 5 Announced Estates and Where We Hope the BTOs Will Be
• HDB BTO August 2022: The 6 Announced Estates and Where We Hope the BTOs Will Be
• HDB BTO November 2022: The 4 Announced Estates and Where We Hope the BTOs Will Be
• HDB BTO February 2023: The 3 Announced Estates and Where We Hope the BTOs Will Be

Disclaimer: The plots featured below are empty sites marked for residential use. They may or may not be the actual sites for the upcoming May 2023 BTO flats.

Bedok (2-room Flexi/ 3-/ 4-/ 5-room/ 3Gen)

Bedok hasn’t seen a new launch since November 2016 (Bedok Beacon), so we’re quite excited about this upcoming one in the mature estate. This will likely be a bigger plot, as there are all the various configurations, from 2-room Flexi up to 5-room and even 3Gen flats – great news for large families!

A possible area we’ve identified is the plot of land bounded by Bedok South Avenue 3 and Bedok South Road. According to the URA Masterplan, this site is designated for residential, with a gross plot ratio of 3.5. It supports blocks up to 36 storeys high.

What’s interesting about this site is that, after checking Google Street View, it seems there were existing blocks here that were demolished (to make way for new residential buildings?). The map shows it housed blocks 47 to 50 here, and the Google Street View photos show the blocks there until September 2019. From August 2021 till more recently, the area was boarded up, and the latest Street View image as of September 2022 is an empty plot of land.

For active families, it’s perfect. The location is really close to Siglap Community Centre and a short walk to Bedok ActiveSG Stadium and Bedok Sports Hall. Tanah Merah MRT station on the East West Line is a short walk away.

But if you want to get to Bedok MRT station, you’d need to take a feeder bus or walk about 20 minutes (cutting through the blocks). There, you’ll find the Bedok Bus Interchange, town centre and shopping malls, Bedok Mall and Djitsun Mall Bedok.

The charm of living in a mature estate is that there are amenities and transport links even if you’re not close to the MRT station. There’s the Marketplace @ 58, Bedok Green Primary School, Block 16 Bedok South Market & Food Centre, Sennett estate with nice eateries such as Patisserie CLE and more, just within walking distance.

You can even take a bus from Tanah Merah MRT station and head to Simpang Bedok for supper stints as well!

Browse all HDB resale flats for sale in Bedok on PropertyGuru.

Kallang/Whampoa (3-/ 4-room)

Seeing the location of past Kallang/Whampoa BTO launches and how the upcoming May 2023 BTO project in the neighbourhood is a mix of 3-/ 4-room units, we might expect the upcoming Kallang/Whampoa May 2023 BTO project to be launched close to the city centre and under the Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) model.

There is a nice plot of land bounded by the Pan-Island Expressway and Jalan Tenteram that’s been undisturbed since January 2009 or earlier, according to Google Street View, though the URA Masterplan says the plot is subject to detailed planning.

This site is close to the park connector and Toa Payoh (Kim Keat side) is just an overhead bridge away.

It’s also possible that the Kallang/Whampoa May 2023 BTO project will share the same plot as the February 2023 BTO launch at Jalan Rajah, which is a short distance away.

The only downside to the site? It’s likely to be noisy for residents staying in the blocks right beside the expressway.

Let’s look further towards the Kallang side. Recent launches in the Kallang Whampoa mature estate include Kallang Horizon (November 2022 BTO project, launched under the PLH model), and King George’s Heights (February 2022 BTO project, also launched under the PLH model). There’s also a second site for the February 2023 Kallang Whampoa BTO launch, at Race Course Road – likely to be launched under the PLH model as well.

Thus, we’re hazarding a guess that if it’s gonna be a PLH flat, it’ll likely run along Rochor Canal as there are some plots of land around Jalan Kukor that are marked as residential. The site we’ve picked is in a central location, close to Stamford Primary School and amenities/eateries, with many public transport links and MRT stations nearby.

One of the plots used to be the old Kampong Glam Malay cemetery, based on the URA Masterplan’s description of the plot. But in Singapore, it’s pretty common in Singapore that housing estates/blocks are built on top of such sites (we’re looking at you, Bishan and Bidadari).

Browse all HDB resale flats for sale in Kallang/Whampoa on PropertyGuru.

Queenstown (3-/ 4-room)

The upcoming May 2023 BTO launch in the mature estate of Queenstown is yet another highly plausible location for a PLH launch, given the history of recent launches (and maybe the upcoming February 2023 BTO launch).

Let’s do a quick recap: November 2022 saw the launch of three Queenstown sites – Ulu Pandan Banks (launched under the PLH model), Ghim Moh Natura (launched under the PLH model) and Queensway Canopy (further away from MRT station and amenities, not launched under the PLH model). Then there was Ghim Moh Ascent (launched under the PLH model) from May 2022’s BTO exercise.

There still seem to be plots available along the Dover Forest stretch, so likely one of the May 2023 projects will be launched there. It’s a good location, with amenities at the doorstep, Singapore Polytechnic, an MRT station, and nature in your backyard.

Otherwise, the next possible sites are around Jalan Hang Jebat, the area near upcoming BTO projects, Queen’s Arc and Queensway Canopy; or around Ghim Moh Road, as there’s a plot of land remaining to the north-west that is marked, “Site reserved for future high-rise residential development”. 

That’ll likely be a BTO flat launched under the PLH model, similar to the other past BTO projects launched on the nearby land parcels. The site is near Buona Vista MRT station and amenities such as The Star Vista, Ulu Pandan Community Club, the Ulu Pandan park connector, neighbourhood centre and so on.

Browse all HDB resale flats for sale in Queenstown on PropertyGuru.

Serangoon (4-/ 5-room)

Wow, Serangoon is finally getting some action! This is after a nine-year hiatus since the January 2014 launch of Golden Ginger which only had 150 studio units available.

We don’t really know what to expect, but there’ll be larger flats available in 4- and 5-room configurations. There is a plot of green that seems to have been untouched since 2008 or earlier around Lorong Chuan and Boundary Road.

It’s sizable to build a small project with just one or two blocks. It’s also in a great location, near educational institutes such as Zhonghua Primary School, Zhonghua Secondary School, Peicai Secondary School, Nanyang Junior College, CHIJ Our Lady of Good Counsel, and more.

There isn’t an MRT station nearby, but there are bus stops close by and getting around should be fuss-free in Serangoon. Not to mention, neighbouring housing estates include fellow mature estates Ang Mo Kio, Bishan and Toa Payoh, so there’s everything one would need within easy reach (as if NEX mall doesn’t already have everything).

Browse all HDB resale flats for sale in Serangoon on PropertyGuru.

Tengah (2-room Flexi/ 3-/ 4-/ 5-room)

Back to the burgeoning new estate that is Tengah. We’re close to seeing the first BTO flats reach completion here. The first batch of announced Tengah BTO flats, Plantation Grove, should reach completion by the second or third quarter of 2023, how exciting!

Meanwhile, Singapore’s youngest housing estate continues to grow with more BTO launches. This year alone, we’ve seen the launch of Garden Waterfront I & II @ Tengah (November 2022), Parc Flora @ Tengah and Plantation Creek (February 2022). There’s another upcoming BTO launch in Tengah during the February 2023 exercise as well.

Seeing that the recent Tengah BTO launches seem to be concentrated around the south-western boundary in Tengah (near the Pan-Island Expressway), we’ll hazard a guess that the May 2023 project will be there too.

It will be close to amenities in Jurong East, as well as within walking distance of two MRT stations on the Jurong Region Line. Nearby schools include Jurongville Secondary School, Dulwich College, Jurong Primary School, Hua Yi Secondary School, Fuhua Secondary School, Yuhua Secondary School, Shuqun Primary School, Rulang Primary School, Jurong Pioneer Junior College, and Canadian International School.

And for those looking to get their own place ASAP, feel heartened that more than 2,000 new BTO flats in Tengah will have a shorter waiting time of about 3.3 years, starting with the two Garden Waterfront sites.

This is thanks to the pilot of new building technologies and innovations to boost productivity, such as 3D concrete printing for landscape features using a special fibre-glass reinforced concrete material to provide structural strength, says HDB.

Browse all HDB resale flats for sale in Jurong West on PropertyGuru.

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