SINGAPORE – Balance flats from earlier Build-To-Order (BTO) exercises are offered to all Singaporeans and not just applicants of the initial launch, so all will have “an opportunity to apply through a fair and transparent process”, said the Housing Board.
It added that such flats – which include unsold, unselected or returned flats from previous BTO launches – are offered through the Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise only after all eligible BTO applicants have selected flats, subject to ethnic quotas.
The HDB on March 14 explained how flats become part of the SBF supply in response to a TikTok video posted by user @xinandxuan on March 3. The TikTok profile states that it is run by two sisters and HDB identified the one who appeared in the video as Ms Chua.
In the video, Ms Chua questioned the large number of flats available as SBF units from some recent BTO launches. She also took issue with the fact that she was not informed that balance flats were available in a Bukit Merah project launched in May 2022, which she had unsuccessfully applied for.
Ms Chua had applied for one of the 1,226 four-room flats on offer in that project – Bukit Merah Ridge – and received a queue number of 3,120 following a ballot.
In an e-mail she received from HDB informing her of her queue number, the board noted that Ms Chua’s queue number exceeds the number of units on offer.
“Nevertheless, we will monitor the take-up of the flats during the selection exercise and let you know if there are flats available for your ethnic group before your queue position is due,” said HDB in the e-mail.
Ms Chua said in her March 3 video that she was not informed that there were still flats available in the project. She cited a Straits Times article published on Feb 28, which stated that 202 four-room units in Bukit Merah Ridge were put on sale in the latest SBF exercise, which had closed on Feb 11.
“I understand that sometimes people might have selected a unit and, you know, kind of give it up, things like that, But for over 200 units to be given up – I don’t think it’s making sense,” said Ms Chua in the video.
She said it was unfair that she did not manage to get a chance to select a unit in Bukit Merah Ridge during the BTO exercise, only for unsold units to go on offer in a subsequent SBF exercise.
Several media outlets reported on her original video, in which she said she had made unsuccessful applications “for about three years, and we’ve tried for about 13 times, and it was just going nowhere”.
In its March 14 response, HDB said some flats in SBF exercises were previously selected in BTO exercises but were subsequently returned or cancelled due to a change in the applicants’ plans and circumstances.
The board also noted that Ms Chua had made 11 applications for a four-room flat in BTO and SBF exercises between November 2020 and May 2023.
It added that the median application rates for first-timer families applying for three-room and larger BTO flats have fallen from from almost 7 times in 2020 to between 1.1 to 1.9 times in 2025, and that the rate for such families was 0.9 times in the latest sales exercise in February.
“As all her applications were for flats in popular locations such as Kallang/Whampoa and Bukit Merah where demand significantly exceeded supply, she was unsuccessful in securing a chance to book a flat in her first 10 applications,” said HDB.
It added that in her last application under the May 2023 SBF exercise – which closed on June 5 that year – Ms Chua was invited to select a flat but decided not to do so.
She eventually bought a resale flat with CPF Housing Grants, said the board. It encouraged “flat applicants with more urgent housing needs to consider applying for projects with lower application rates to improve their chances of securing a flat”.
In a subsequent TikTok post on March 15, Ms Chua said the resale unit she purchased was “in the prime areas”, adding that she had posted the March 3 video to “share the pain point of trying so many times but not getting a unit, yet so many are left for sales of balance”.
On the invitation she received for the May 2023 SBF exercise, Ms Chua posted screenshots of text messages showing that the invitation from HDB was received on Jan 29, 2024, and that she had received an option to purchase what presumably was a resale HDB unit on Jan 4 that year.
“We’re only asked to select a unit after nine months of balloting and it was too late. End of the day we went ahead with a resale as the wild goose chase was not ending,” she said in her March 15 post.
ST has contacted Ms Chua for comment.