The very first BTO sales exercise of 2025 is officially underway. We started the week with HDB announcing that the February 2025 BTO and SBF exercise is now open for applications, with a total of 5,032 BTO flats across five projects and another 5,590 SBF units up for sale.
The 5 BTO projects cover four estates━Yishun, Woodlands, Queenstown, and Kallang/Whampoa━and come in your usual mix of flat types, from 2-room Flexis all the way to 5-room units. While each BTO project certainly has its pros and cons, one project undoubtedly stands out: Tanjong Rhu Parc Front, under the Kallang/Whampoa estate, and which is the only Prime BTO project in this sales exercise.
With a very attractive location and high potential for a decent price appreciation in the long term, here’s everything you need to know about the standout star in this BTO sales exercise.
Tanjong Rhu Parc Front at a glance
Image credit: HDB
Bounded by the existing Tanjong Rhu Road, KPE, and ECP expressways, Tanjong Rhu Parc Front will have a total of 812 BTO flats across 3 residential blocks (31A, 32A, and 33A):
- 2-room Flexi (Type 1): 58 units
- 2-room Flexi (Type 2): 203 units
- 3-room: 87 units
- 4-room units: 464 units
In addition, one other block (31B) will comprise a total of 203 1-room and 2-room rental flats, which can be rented from HDB directly if you are eligible to.
Image credit: HDB
According to HDB’s site plan, the project will include all the usual amenities of new BTO projects, such as a multi-storey car park (MSCP), children’s playground, adult fitness station, and drop-off porch. The MSCP block will also house a pre-school on the ground floor, as well as a roof garden on the top floor which will feature lush landscaping, shelters, and communal spaces for residents to bond and relax in.
Even though the project is situated next to the ECP expressway, dust and noise concerns shouldn’t be too much of an issue, because the MSCP will act as a barrier of sorts between the expressway and the residential blocks. In addition, most of the residential units either face Tanjong Rhu Road or Tanjong Rhu Close in a North-South orientation, which tends to be favourable amongst homebuyers because they wouldn’t face the full brunt of the morning or evening sun.
What are the indicative prices of units?
The selling prices of 2-room Flexi flats start at $211,000, 3-room flats at $399,000, and 4-room flats at $548,000. These prices exclude available grants such as the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG), which can go as high as $120,000, depending on your household income and eligibility. This means that 2-room Flexi units can potentially start from $91,000, and 5-room units from as low as $493,000.
Eco-friendly living and smart-home features
As you may know, HDB has been implementing several features in newly launched HDB projects to promote green living in recent years, both in the common areas as well as within the homes themselves.
For Tanjong Rhu Parc Front, residents can expect several eco-friendly features such as separate chutes for recyclable waste, bicycle stands, smart lighting in common areas, and even electric vehicle charging points.
Image credit: HDB
According to the HDB, the housing precinct will be designed with well-connected pathways to make it easier for residents to walk and cycle more as part of their daily commutes to the surrounding amenities and public transport.
How competitive will applications for these flats be?
As we all know, Kallang/Whampoa BTO projects tend to do fairly well in BTO launches, in terms of application rates for flats. However, Kallang/Whampoa spans a very large area, and so demand for BTO projects can vary from estate to estate.
In the case of Tanjong Rhu Parc Front, this will be only the second BTO launch in over 60 years, with the first being Tanjong Rhu Riverfront I & II, which were launched in last year’s June 2024 BTO exercise. There isn’t much past data to go on, but we do know that Tanjong Rhu is commonly associated with the large enclave of private condos in the area. As such, any new residential projects in the area would more or less be able to share that same level of prestige and luxury, which will only give rise to its popularity amongst prospective homebuyers.
To get a sense of how stiff competition will be, let’s look at the most recent data from Tanjong Rhu Riverfront I & II, which is located just across the road from Tanjong Rhu Parc Front. During last year’s June 2024 BTO sales exercise, 390 applicants vied for 197 3-room units, and 3,963 applicants vied for 1,296 4-room flats. This translates to decent application rates of 2.0 and 3.1 respectively, but certainly not the groundbreakers as we have seen in other estates like Bidadari.
For this upcoming exercise, we can probably expect a similar amount of competition given the close proximity of both projects, where those who were unsuccessful last time around might try their luck again. However, some may choose to turn their attention elsewhere, given that Tanjong Rhu Riverfront directly faces Geylang River, whereas Tanjong Rhu Parc Front is situated further away and so doesn’t come with the same attractiveness of waterfront living.
Prime location with amazing connectivity
Of course, one of the main selling points of Tanjong Rhu Parc Front has to be its central location, and connectivity is the name of the game.
If you drive, then you will undoubtedly enjoy the convenience of its location. Your drive to the downtown CBD area, where Marina Bay Financial Centre or Asia Square are located, will be as short as 15 minutes. Other popular places like East Coast Park and the Kallang Alive sporting district are also less than a 15-minute drive away. With the MCE, KPE and ECP highways nearby, traveling to other parts of Singapore will also be a breeze, though you will have to contend with traffic, especially during the morning and evening rush hours.
Public transport-wise, Tanjong Rhu Parc Front is situated in between Tanjong Rhu MRT Station and Katong Park MRT Station, which sit on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). There is also bus service 158 which plies routes through estates such as Serangoon, Upper Paya Lebar, and Bartley, though it remains to be seen if more bus services would be introduced to the area, given the increased amount of human traffic in the area.
In terms of amenities, the closest option would be Kallang Wave Mall, which is a short bus ride or drive away. Apart from various recreational, commercial and F&B options, Kallang Wave Mall also features a giant Fairprice Xtra hypermarket, which will help you meet all your grocery and household needs.
Image credit: HDB
One big consideration would be the lack of schools in the immediate vicinity. There are no primary schools within the project’s 1km radius, and the closest school would be Dunman High School, which is just a short commute away. While some might not be too deterred by this, couples with young children or who are planning to have children might give this project a pass, especially given that they will be locked in to living there for at least 10 years because of the project’s Minimum Occupation Period (MOP).
The only Prime project in the Feb 2025 BTO exercise
One important factor to bear in mind is that Tanjong Rhu Parc Front is categorised as a Prime flat━the only one this time around. While there are significant subsidies available to make the flats here more affordable, it does come with its tradeoffs, which might affect your future plans if you choose to sell your flat eventually.
As mentioned, Prime flats come with a 10-year MOP, and you are not allowed to rent out the entire flat. When you do sell your flat eventually, you will be required to pay HDB a subsidiary recovery amount based on the resale or valuation price━whichever is higher. In the case of Tanjong Rhu Parc Front, that amount is pegged at 9%. Overall, these measures are meant to help to keep these highly sought after HDB projects affordable, both at initial sale during BTO exercises, and subsequent resale in the market.
Tanjong Rhu Parc Front in Kallang/Whampoa Feb 2025 BTO launch
If you are considering putting in an application for this February 2025 BTO exercise, be sure to do your homework and ensure all the necessary documents are lined up before submitting in an application on the HDB’s application portal. Applications close on 17 February 2025 at 11:59pm.
Here’s a small reminder to look at your finances as well before applying, as the Loan-to-Value (LTV) limit for HDB housing loans has been revised from 80% to 75% since the October 2024 BTO sales exercise.
If you are more concerned with the projects’ success rate rather than its location, you can also monitor the status of applications through HDB’s Flat Portal. The application rates for each BTO project will be updated regularly throughout the 8-day application window through the HDB Flat Portal, so you can keep track of how popular each project is and calibrate your decision from there.
Check out the other Feb 2025 BTO launches here:
- Chencharu Green & Chencharu Vines: Yishun Feb 2025 BTO Launch
- Stirling Horizon: New Queenstown HDB near malls & green spaces
- Woodlands North Verge Feb 2025 BTO: largest launch with 1,540 Flats
For more BTO reads:
Cover image adapted from: HDB, Visit Singapore
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