_H2 2022 Government Land Sales Programme

Summary of Residential, Commercial and Hotel Sites in H2 2022 vs H1 2022

Residential Sites

As saleable private housing supply dwindles, the government has increased the supply of sites. The projected number of private housing units (including Executive Condominiums (ECs)) in the Government Land Sales (GLS) Confirmed List for H2 2022 grew 25.9% to 3,505 unit from the 2,785 units in H1 2022. From a year ago in H2 2021, the number of private housing units (including ECs) in the Confirmed List increased by 75.3% units from 2,000 units.

The most interesting site would be that at Marina Gardens Lane, where almost 800 units can be developed. This first private residential site at the reclaimed land of Marina South, when completed, will have unobstructed views of the CBD, Gardens by the Bay, Marina Reservoir and sea views, as well as front-row seats to the fireworks at National Day events… at least, before other sites in the area are developed. This land parcel when launched for tender is expected to be hotly contested.

In the heartlands, the EC site at Tengah Plantation Loop is also likely to draw interest. Tengah is a new up-and-coming residential estate with many sustainable features in its urban planning. When completed, this site would offer new families executive condominium options as the entire area evolves to become Singapore’s first car-lite town with green features and smart technologies. In June 2021, an EC site located at Tengah Garden Walk was keenly contested and awarded at S$603 psf per plot ratio (ppr).

There will also be competition for the land parcels at Bukit Timah Link and Hillview Rise as these plots allow for the development of under 400 units, well within the present risk appetite of developers hungry for land. 

In the last two years, much of the activity in the GLS programme has been restricted to sites on the Confirmed List, while activity in the Reserve List has been muted with the exception of the Marina View parcel. In the next six months, perhaps developers might look towards the sites on the GLS Reserve List given the shrinking unsold stock. In mitigating escalating costs and risks, the sites that developers might trigger would be the smaller ones where 500 units or less can be built, as larger sites in excess of 700 units are less appetising given the increase in Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) to 35% for housing developers.

White Sites

With the announcement of the removal of the Kampong Bugis white site on 14 March 2022, only one white site remains on the GLS lists, with Woodlands Avenue 2 being the sole white site on the Reserve List. Amid external headwinds, rising inflation, construction costs and interest rates, developers might remain tentative on large mixed-use projects. Nonetheless, investment interest could return in 2023 when new enterprises borne from the COVID-19 era emerge to become new demand drivers in the commercial sector, and when the trend of decentralised commercial space in regional centres becomes more entrenched with flexible working hybrids.

Hotel

With Singapore’s increasingly open borders from April 2022 onwards, visitor arrivals more than doubled from 121,197 in March 2022 to 294,304 in April 2022. Expectations are high that recovery in the hospitality sector might finally be kindled and gain traction from the second half of 2022 onwards. Nevertheless, recovery in the hospitality sector is in its nascent stages and the government remains cautious by not introducing any new hotel sites for sale in either the Confirmed or Reserve List. The sole hotel site at River Valley Road on the Reserve List has been there since H2 2019.