After many months of anticipation, the final BTO sales exercise of 2025 is now officially underway, with 9,144 brand new flats across 10 projects in 8 estates on offer. Diversity is undeniably the theme of this launch, with highly anticipated flats in prime locations to affordable family-sized units in other estates around Singapore.
Every BTO launch is headlined by a star attraction, and this time around, it is the introduction of 2 debutants to the BTO scene: the new residential estates of Mount Pleasant and Berlayar. For the latter, it has been 3 years of waiting ever since it was first announced in April 2022 that BTO flats will be built at the former Keppel Club site along the Greater Southern Waterfront locale, making them the first BTOs of their kind.
Given the Government’s grand plans to transform Singapore’s southern coast into a vibrant lifestyle and recreational gateway where nature, heritage and modern living meld, there is indeed much excitement about the first public housing project in the new Berlayar estate. Are the flats worth their price and MOP? What are the key highlights of the location? Are there any downsides? Join us as we break down all the details.
880 flats from 2-room Flexi to 4-room on offer
Image credit: HDB
For the October 2025 BTO sales exercise, Berlayar Residences offers a total of 880 units for sale, ranging from 2-room Flexi to 4-room layouts. The development will feature four residential blocks between 19 and 46 storeys tall—3 housing the 880 units and one designated for rental flats. These are the inaugural flats in the new Berlayar estate, which, when fully developed, will comprise around 7,000 new flats and about 3,000 private homes.
According to HDB’s site map, buyers who manage to secure a high-rise unit can look forward to unblocked views of Keppel Harbour, while units facing the other side will enjoy views of the lush greenery of the Southern Ridges and the city skyline.
The estimated waiting time for the project is 56 months, which isn’t as long as Mount Pleasant (59 months) but nonetheless quite a considerable stretch. This will be a key consideration for some buyers, who may not want to wait so long to move in.
Berlayar falls under the Bukit Merah estate, which also includes another project in this launch, Redhill Peaks. Both developments are classified as Prime projects.
Image credit: HDB
The name “Berlayar” (meaning “sailing” in Malay) draws inspiration from the area’s landmarks and maritime heritage, which has been incorporated in the estate’s design and architecture. For those who are interested, the development will adopt a white and blue colour palette that mirrors its setting near the waterfront, as well as incorporate motifs of fauna species found in the area into the design of community living rooms and wayfinding signages.
The broader estate’s architecture is also quite meaningful. Inspired by the sloping hills of Bukit Merah, the residential developments in the Berlayar estate will be designed with staggered heights to form a distinctive terracing skyline. Where possible, the HDB blocks will also be oriented to provide more residents with scenic views of the waterfront coast and surrounding nature spots.
According to the HDB, Berlayar is planned with ample green spaces to allow residents to live close to nature, with up to 10 hectares of the estate dedicated to parks and open spaces, comprising 20% of the entire area of the estate.
Similar to Mount Pleasant, Berlayar has been designated as a car-lite precinct, which is an initiative to encourage green modes of commuting. Apart from reducing the overall number of car park spaces to make space for more public facilities and greenery, other measures that will be implemented in the estate include reducing the availability of season parking and restricting it to residents only, as well as charging a higher season parking rate for 2nd and subsequent vehicles.
Prime location, but probably not for everyone
Image credit: HDB
Location-wise, our take is that it’s a mixed bag of pros and cons.
Let’s talk about the positives first. A key highlight is that the estate is right next to Telok Blangah MRT station, which gives you access to the Circle Line. Harbourfront MRT is also just one stop away, which connects you with the North-East Line. Complemented with a comprehensive bus network, public transport accessibility won’t be an issue and commuting to and from the area should be fairly hassle-free and straightforward.
Image credit: URA
Another draw is of course, being part of the Greater Southern Waterfront. We can’t see it right now, but there have been very lofty plans drawn up for the locale, and no doubt residents will eventually enjoy the perks of living within a vibrant and exciting waterfront community along Singapore’s southern coast.
The estate is also located close to several nature areas with rich biodiversity and flora, giving residents the option to live close to popular nature recreation spots such as Labrador Nature Park, Mount Faber and the Southern Ridges.
Ironically, one con is, in fact, its location. Because of where it’s located, it is not next to any ‘traditional’ large residential estates, unlike say Mount Pleasant where it’s right next to Toa Payoh. As such, residents may find the lack of amenities a bit of a bother. Fortunately, places such as Vivocity and the small Telok Blangah estate help to mitigate some of these concerns, and in the long run, the HDB will probably introduce more amenities within the Berlayar estate to cater to residents’ needs.
In terms of schools, there are 3 primary schools within the project’s 1km radius: Blangah Rise Primary, Gan Eng Seng Primary, and Alexandra Primary, on top of other schools such as Radin Mas Primary, CHIJ Kellock and CHIJ St Theresa’s Convent. Families with school-going children eyeing a place in these schools will certainly be drawn here.
Indicative costs of flats
Image credit: HDB
Here are the indicative costs for units at Berlayar Residences:
| Selling Price (excl. grants) | Transacted prices of resale flats nearby | |
| 2-room Flexi (99-year lease) | $218,000 – $369,000 | – |
| 3-room | $420,000 – $562,000 | 635,000 – $777,777 |
| 4-room | $578,000 – $788,000 | $848,000 – $1,200,000 |
Overall, prices are what you’d expect for a property in an exceptional location. Despite the higher selling prices compared to the other BTO projects in this sales exercise, bear in mind that Berlayar undoubtedly has one of the strongest potential for significant capital appreciation given its location.
Currently, the area is home to plenty of private condo developments, which have selling prices of easily over a million. For instance, we did a cursory check for units at the nearby Reflections at Keppel Bay, and the cheapest listing we saw was for a 2-bedder unit going for $1.57M. Berlayar Residences will draw significant attention because it is essentially a much more affordable entry into a prime location commanded by high property prices.
Given its location and appeal, you can probably expect subscription rates. For comparison, the most recent and closest BTO launch was Telok Blangah Beacon in 2021, which saw a subscription rate of 23 times, while the Alexandra Peaks and Alexandra Vista launches earlier this year had over 3,500 applicants competing for 1,107 units.
Highest Prime project subsidy clawback
Image credit: HDB
It’s probably no surprise that Berlayar Residences has been classified as a Prime project. Apart from being located fairly close to Singapore’s business district, the locale is also home to mostly private condo developments, and its Prime classification is reflective of that.
As you would know, Plus and Prime projects come with several rent and sale restrictions, such as a 10-year MOP and a subsidy clawback upon sale, which is basically a percentage of the resale or valuation price (whichever is higher). The rationale for the latter is that these Prime projects come with more favourable locational attributes, and so would inherently have a higher value on par with the market.
Thus, the HDB has to implement additional subsidies to ensure that they remain affordable for a wider group of home buyers. Of course, being in a prime location also means the strong likelihood of capital appreciation and hence gains in the long run. And so, to ensure fairness for all homebuyers, the higher subsidy clawback is so that these profits will be tempered vis-à-vis the higher subsidies provided.
Here’s the kicker: Berlayar Residences has been fixed with a 14% subsidy clawback, which is not only the highest in this exercise but the highest of all Prime projects since the new classification was implemented back in 2022. To give you some context, subsidy clawbacks for Prime projects in the previous July 2025 BTO launch ranged between 11%-12%, and the inaugural batch of Prime flats came with just a 6% subsidy clawback.
How will this affect its selling potential? Well, it’s hard to predict how the market will shift given that it’ll be at least 15 years before Berlayar Residences hits the resale market (taking into account its estimated waiting time of about 5 years and then its 10-year MOP). However, we think that 4-room flats could easily fetch over $1.5M by then, given the current runway of the Greater Southern Waterfront’s transformation.
And if you think that a 14% clawback will hurt the seller, well…as one Reddit user puts it:
Image credit: Reddit
Berlayar Residences – An exciting project in an exceptional location
When comparing across the various BTO projects in this sales exercise, one would inevitably compare Berlayar Residences with its perhaps closest rival: Mount Pleasant Crest. Both are the pioneer batch of flats in brand new residential estates in prime locations, and so those who can afford them will have to seriously weigh the two and see which one fits better into their plans.
While Mount Pleasant is more of a traditional residential estate located near the heartlands of Singapore, Berlayar is seen as the stepping stone into a future waterfront lifestyle destination, offering a seamless blend of residential, commercial, and recreational spaces, set against the backdrop of the sea. Residents at Berlayar will enjoy scenic sea views, coastal breezes, and easy access to waterfront promenades and parks, along with ample recreational options right at their doorstep.
Read more about the October 2025 BTO launch:
- Are Mount Pleasant Crest’s 1,348 units worth the 5-year wait?
- Around 3,300 HDB BTO flats launched to have shorter waiting times from Bedok to Yishun
- Over 870 new flats to launch at Singapore’s new Berlayar Estate
- Oct 2025 BTO launch: 9,100 flats in 8 towns, including Greater Southern Waterfront & Mount Pleasant
Cover image adapted from: HDB
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