If you are considering applying for a Build-To-Order (BTO) or a Sale of Balance Flat (SBF) sales exercise, chances are you would have heard about the existence of priority schemes for first-timers. In every launch, HDB sets aside a percentage of flats for eligible first-timers and second-timers who apply for these priority schemes. If you are eligible and apply for a BTO flat using these priority schemes, it increases your odds of successfully getting a flat in the BTO ballot.
In this article, we will be running through the various priority schemes available as well as whether you should use the Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS) to secure a BTO queue number (it comes with a significant drawback that you should be aware of before your application!).
Priority Schemes
If you are a first-timer, meaning that you have never received housing subsidies from HDB before, you will automatically get 2 ballot chances compared to second-timers who only get 1 ballot chance. As a first-timer, you may also qualify for the deferred income assessment (DIA) and staggered downpayment scheme, which helps you to secure a flat with improved affordability.
Additionally, if your household meets all the eligibility criteria and qualifies at the time of submitting your HFE letter application, you may include a priority scheme in your flat application. When you apply for a priority scheme, you can improve your chances to get a queue number during the BTO and SBF sales exercises. Each priority scheme has a percentage of the flat supply allocated and set aside, and a computerised ballot is conducted for each priority scheme.
Take note that if you have been invited to book a flat, but reject the chance to do so despite having units available, you will incur a non-selection count and be deemed a second-timer for a period of one year.
First-Timer (Parents & Married Couples) or FT(PMC)
Family and Parenthood Priority Scheme (FPPS)
Introduced last year in March 2023, this new priority category gives eligible applicants an additional ballot chance in their BTO applications. This means that those who qualify for this category will get a total of 3 ballot chances for any flat type in any estate.
To qualify for this priority category, you must be a first-timer family with at least 1 Singapore Citizen child below the age of 18, or a first-timer married couple under the age of 40. Married couples who are expecting and have a doctor’s certification of pregnancy are also included in this category. Additionally, you must not have owned or sold any residential property before and did not have the chance to book a flat in the past 5 years.
You do not need to enrol or indicate your desire to apply for a flat under this category as HDB will assess and inform you of your eligibility after you have submitted your flat application.
If you qualify for the FT(PMC), you will be eligible for the FPPS as well. The FPPS has the highest percentage of flat supply allocated – up to 40% of BTO flats and up to 60% of SBF flats are set aside for eligible applicants who qualify for this scheme.
If you are eligible for the FPPS and apply for another priority scheme, your application will first be balloted under the priority scheme that you applied for. If that ballot is unsuccessful, your application will then be balloted again under the FPPS.
As the government hopes to provide support for married couples to settle down more quickly and start a family, those who qualify for the FT(PMC) and FPPS have the highest chance of securing a queue number in their BTO applications.
Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS)
The MCPS provides support for married couples to live near or with their parents. It has the second highest percentage of flat supply allocated – up to 30% of BTO flats and 30% of SBF flats are set aside for eligible applicants who qualify for this scheme.
For flats offered under the Prime Location Housing (PLH) model, HDB will review the proportion of flats set aside for the MCPS and adjust them depending on the location of the project. This quota will be made available when the projects are launched in a sales exercise.
To qualify for this scheme, you must either apply to live with your parents or married child (their names must be included in your flat application), or the project you are applying for must be within 4km from the residential property that your parents or married child reside in.
Multi-Generation Priority Scheme (MGPS)
The MGPS is a unique scheme that allows parents and their married child to make a joint application for 2 flats in the same BTO project, allowing them to stay within the same estate for mutual support. The BTO project must have 2-room Flexi or 3-room flats integrated in the flat mix. Under the scheme, the parents can only apply for a 2-room Flexi or 3-room flat while the married child can apply for a 2-room Flexi or bigger flat.
If you and your parents choose not to book their flats together under the MGPS, you can continue with your flat applications individually under the Public Scheme. Should you both succeed in the Public Scheme, HDB will arrange separate flat booking appointments for you and your parents to select a flat under that scheme.
Third Child Priority Scheme (TCPS)
This scheme offers priority to families with more than 2 children to encourage the formation of larger families. Up to 5% of BTO flats and SBF flats are allocated to the TCPS.
To qualify for the TCPS, you must have at least 3 children (natural offspring from a legal marriage or legally adopted). If you are divorced, you must have legal custody, care, and control of your children. And for adoptive parents, you must have the Adoption Order of your children when you apply for a flat.
Take note that your 3 children who helped you qualify for the TCPS must live with you in the new flat for the whole duration of the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP). Additionally, they must not apply for a new flat or be included as an occupier in any flat applications (new flat, resale flat, or EC). They are not allowed to rent an HDB flat as well. Failure to comply with these conditions may result in forfeiture of your new flat.
Assistance Scheme for Second-Timers (Divorced/Widowed Parents) (ASSIST)
The ASSIST scheme supports divorced or widowed persons with at least one child aged 18 and below. To qualify for this scheme, you must not have acquired any interest in an HDB flat or private residential property (except for your matrimonial flat/ property) after the date of divorce/separation or demise of your spouse.
Under the previous HDB classification framework, 5% of 2-room Flexi and 3-room BTO flats in non-mature estates are allocated for the ASSIST scheme. This quota is shared with the 15% set aside for second-timers. It is unclear how this quota would work with the new HDB classification frameworks of Standard, Plus, and Prime flats, but we presume that it would be restricted to only the Standard and at most the Plus flats.
Should You Apply For The MCPS?
Many young couples who apply under the Public Scheme or fiancé/fiancée scheme make the hasty decision of submitting their BTO flat applications under the Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS) just because they are eligible for it since their parents live within 4km of the project they are gunning for. However, some BTO applicants that we have spoken to do not realise that their parents have to undertake the condition that they must not move out of that 4km radius until after the flat clears the MOP.
Consider this. Assuming that your new flat is a PLH model or Prime flat that will be completed in 4 years’ time. And with a 10-year MOP, your parents will only be able to sell their current property and move in 14 years’ time. That is more than two property cycles, and a considerable amount of time which can set your parents’ property journey and retirement plans back significantly.
Some BTO applicants only find out about this condition after they have secured a queue number under the MCPS, at their HDB selection appointment when they are required to video call their parents to have them undertake the condition. And by then, the only ways to proceed is either for the parents to undertake the condition (begrudgingly or not) or to forfeit the queue number. It is extremely rare for applicants to get out of the MCPS arrangement successfully and still retain their position in the queue.
However, not all is lost. While it is true that your parents must live within 4km from your new flat until it reaches MOP, it does not mean that they can’t still sell their property and move on to another. It just means that they can’t move out of that 4km radius. So to comply with the MCPS condition, their next property must still be located within 4km of your flat.
Closing Thoughts
While there are many priority schemes available to support young couples and families to secure a new flat, there are also strict eligibility conditions that applicants should be aware of. When applying for a priority scheme, particularly the MCPS, make sure that you fully understand the conditions and discuss with your family at length to come to an agreement before making a decision.
If you have further questions or need help navigating your options in the market, do reach out to us here and we will be happy to guide you every step of the way. Till next time, take care.
