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HDB launched 7,964 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats across seven projects on 4 November 2026. You can apply on the HDB Flat Portal until 11:59pm on 11 November. This is the first launch since the income ceiling went up on 24 August, to $16,000 a month for families and $8,000 for singles. So more households can now apply for a new flat, and more can borrow from HDB to pay for it. The next exercise follows in February 2027, with about 4,300 BTO flats in Bishan, Tampines, Tengah and Toa Payoh.
If you're applying, start with an HDB loan. Banks charge less today, but a bank loan is a one-way door. You can move from an HDB loan to a bank loan after you collect your keys. You can never move from a bank loan back to HDB.
Below are the projects, how long each one takes to build, why the HDB loan comes first, and what to do before you apply.
Every new flat is now classed as Standard, Plus or Prime. Plus and Prime flats are in more popular locations and get extra subsidies. In return, you must live in them for at least 10 years before selling (the minimum occupation period, or MOP). When you sell, you also pay a share of the price back to HDB. HDB calls this subsidy recovery. Standard flats have a five-year MOP and no subsidy recovery.
| Project | Town | Class (subsidy recovery) | Flats | 4-room from | Waiting time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sembawang Anchor | Sembawang | Standard | 1,310 | $312,000 | 34 months |
| Plantation Dew | Tengah | Standard | 710 | $339,000 | 38 months |
| Chencharu Acres | Yishun | Standard | 1,582 | $353,000 | 39 to 41 months |
| Bayshore Oasis | Bedok | Plus (9%) | 855 | $559,000 | 38 months |
| Merpati Meadow | Geylang | Plus (8%) | 438 | $545,000 | 39 months |
| Bayshore Sails | Bedok | Plus (9%) | 1,637 | $580,000 | 44 months |
| Toa Payoh Hillside | Toa Payoh | Prime (11%) | 1,432 | $558,000 | 45 months |
HDB flats, November 2026 BTO exercise. Prices are before grants. Waiting time is HDB's estimate, from booking your flat to the building's completion. Source: HDB, captured 5 November 2026.
Two things stand out.
The wait runs from under three years to almost four. Sembawang Anchor is the shortest, at 34 months. Toa Payoh Hillside is the longest, at 45 months. Flat booking is expected to start in March 2027, so count forward from there.
More than half the flats come with a 10-year MOP. The four Plus and Prime projects hold 4,362 of the 7,964 flats. If you sell a Toa Payoh Hillside flat, for example, you pay HDB 11% of the resale price or the valuation, whichever is higher.
More than one in three flats in this launch are 2-room Flexi flats, the smallest type, which come on a 99-year lease or a shorter one. Plantation Dew also offers "white flats", which come without internal walls and cost $6,000 to $9,000 less. And Toa Payoh Hillside has 256 Community Care Apartments for seniors, the first since the minimum age dropped from 65 to 55.
HDB has confirmed about 4,300 BTO flats in Bishan, Tampines, Tengah and Toa Payoh for February. It will also offer about 5,000 Sale of Balance Flats (unsold flats from earlier launches) at the same time.
HDB hasn't released prices, waiting times or classes yet. EdgeProp reported five sites. Analysts at Huttons Asia expect the Bishan site (about 1,070 flats) and the Toa Payoh site (about 1,140 flats, next to the planned Mount Pleasant MRT station) to be Prime. They expect the two Tampines sites and the Tengah site to be Standard. HDB hasn't confirmed any of this. Huttons also notes it is the smallest BTO exercise since February 2022.
On Cashew's panel of bank packages, bank loans for BTO flats ranged from 1.67% to 1.92% in the first year on 5 November 2026. All of them were floating rates, which move with SORA (the interest rate banks base their floating packages on). The HDB loan is 2.60%. On rates alone, a bank looks cheaper.
However, for a BTO the case is slightly different. Here is why we'd start with HDB.
1. You can move to a bank later, but not back. You can refinance (move your loan) from HDB to a bank later on. Once you're with a bank, HDB says you "cannot refinance that loan with us subsequently". So if you start with a bank, the HDB loan is gone for that flat.
2. You pay less before you get your keys. Whichever loan you take, your monthly instalments only start when you collect your keys. What differs is the downpayment before then. With an HDB loan, you pay 10% of the price when you sign the Agreement for Lease (your contract with HDB), and the other 15% at key collection. With a bank loan, you pay 20% when you sign, and at least 5% of the price must be in cash. With an HDB loan, you can pay all of it from your CPF Ordinary Account, the part of your CPF savings that can go towards housing, if your balance covers it. There is a trade-off: before HDB lends to you, each buyer has to use their CPF Ordinary Account savings above $20,000.
3. It's easier to qualify. Whether you borrow from HDB or a bank, your monthly instalment for an HDB flat can't be more than 30% of your income. To check this, lenders work out your instalment at a higher rate than you'll actually pay, in case rates rise. HDB uses 3% a year. Banks must use 4%. So at the same income, HDB can let you borrow more.
There is one reason to choose a bank instead. HDB won't lend to a household if anyone in the core family named in your HFE letter application has already taken two HDB loans. If you'd rather keep your HDB loan for a later flat, a bank loan now does that.
When do you choose? You decide by the time you sign the Agreement for Lease, because the downpayment you pay then depends on your loan. The loan itself only starts when you collect your keys. That's when you can compare the HDB rate with what the banks offer, and move if you choose.
The HDB rate isn't fixed. It is set at 0.1 percentage point above the CPF Ordinary Account interest rate, and HDB reviews it every quarter. It is 2.60% for October to December 2026.
Get your HFE letter in early. You need a valid HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter to apply. It tells you whether you can buy a flat, which grants you can get and whether you can take an HDB loan. It takes up to a month to process, longer around a launch, and lasts nine months. For February, HDB encourages you to submit all your documents by 15 December 2026.
Check your grant. The Enhanced CPF Housing Grant gives first-timer families (households buying their first subsidised flat) up to $120,000. It needs an average monthly household income of $9,000 or less. If your household earns between $9,000 and $16,000, you can now buy a BTO flat and take an HDB loan, but you won't get this grant. Budget for more than the after-grant prices you may see quoted.
Watch the application rates. The application rate is the number of applicants for each flat. HDB updates it on the HDB Flat Portal several times a day while applications are open. HDB suggests looking at projects with a rate around one or lower. Places are decided by a computer ballot, so applying early doesn't help. From February 2027, first-timer families get one extra ballot chance for each Singapore Citizen child aged 18 and below.
If you're applying for one of these projects, Cashew can look at your case and answer your questions as an unbiased broker.
Choosing between an HDB concessionary loan and a bank loan isn't just about rate, since HDB's 2.6% rarely moves while bank rates swing widely, but the two products differ in cash needed upfront, lock-in penalties and reversibility. Bank loans usually cost less over a long tenure but require cash downpayment and lock-in periods, and once you switch from HDB to a bank you can never go back, so starting with HDB keeps both options open while starting with a bank closes the HDB door permanently.
Erica Sham·3 Nov 2026
About 1 in 5 private home resales in Singapore's prime region (Core Central Region) were sold at a loss in Q3 2026, well above the islandwide rate of 4.6%. These losses were concentrated in a handful of long-time weak resale performers, such as OUE Twin Peaks, Marina One, V on Shenton, and Cape Royale, rather than reflecting the prime segment as a whole, so a project's own resale track record matters more than its district when assessing value retention.
Jay Sadarangani·3 Nov 2026© 2026 Cashew. All rights reserved.
