What you need to know about Singapore’s H2 2024 GLS Programme

There are 5,050 private housing units included in the Confirmed List. 

In a recently released commentary, Knight Frank analysts said the sustained supply of 5,050 private housing units in the H2 2024 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme Confirmed List, similar to the 5,450 units in H1 2024 introduces a total of 11,110 potential new private homes (inclusive of the 610 units from the Zion Road (Parcel B) site on the Reserve List) in 2024. 

The government continues to supply the private residential development market with intentions of keeping price growth in check, even though developers have clearly begun to show diminished appetite for GLS sites at recent land tenders. 

Here’s more from Knight Frank:

Developers are currently very conscious of the selectiveness of homebuyers in the current market, and have in turn become increasingly selective in choosing sites for development. Higher-for-longer interest rates, cooling measures as well as the high costs of development that include punitive measures such as deadlines to sell out, have combined to take a significant toll on the appetite for new development. The number of interested bidders shrank from regularly more than seven in 2021 to frequently less than five in 2023, to an average of just over two bids per site (residential and white sites) in the tenders that closed in the first half of 2024.

Take the Lentor area for example. The tender for the first GLS site in that area attracted nine bids in July 2021, only to decrease to four bids in January 2022, and subsequently two to three bids in the tender exercise of September 2022. In April 2023 there was just one bid for the fifth, and in September 2023, two bids for the sixth Lentor GLS site. The government has now moved the seventh Lentor site (Lentor Gardens) from the Reserve List of H1 2024 to the Confirmed List of H2 2024, and it will be interesting to see how many bids are registered.

Another area with a concentration of sites is Media Circle in one-north, where four sites (with one having been awarded earlier in February 2024) can potentially provide more than 1,500 units.

Residential Sites

In the six months ahead, perhaps the locations that have not had a new launch for quite a few years, and/or areas with few private residential projects might garner more interest in developer participation at tenders. Should developers’ participation in the next six months be as reticent as it has been in the past six months, the government might perhaps wish to consider moving more sites into the Reserve List.

Chencharu Close

The new site at Chencharu Close will be the first piece of the private sector’s contribution to HDB’s announced masterplan for Chencharu, that was unveiled a few weeks ago. It appears that this private project at the nexus of the Chencharu masterplan will be the centre of gravity for this new up-and-coming precinct in Yishun. 

Developers will be keen to take part in the development of a new growth area in the middle of an existing housing estate. However, given a substantial site area of 2.94 ha and a potential gross development area of over one million sf, as well as the development of an integrated community and bus interchange, the ticket size for the parcel is expected to be substantial (anywhere from just under S$1 billion and above), where even larger developers are likely to partner each other when bidding for the site.   

Faber Walk

In the last decade, GLS sites launched in the Clementi Planning Area typically had keen participation with tenders drawing between five to 18 bidders, such as the highly contested site that is the current Waterfront @ Faber, situated along Faber Walk, and next to the upcoming Faber Walk GLS site. Despite the current muted sentiment of developers, the site at Faber Walk could still see some interest, given its close proximity to the Jurong East Regional Centre with malls such as Westgate, JEM and IMM. With the development of the Jurong Lake District GLS site, a future development on this plot might attract homebuyers who wish to live near a decentralised commercial centre that has many amenities.

Chuan Grove

Similar to the Clementi Planning Area, GLS sites in the Serangoon Planning Area has had its fair share of sites that were hotly contested. The latest GLS site sold in the area was Serangoon Avenue 3 (The Scala) in October 2009 after receiving 15 bids. Chuan Grove could attract potential downgraders from the landed areas in Serangoon as well as at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 (Tai Hwan and Mei Hwan areas), given its proximity to Lorong Chuan MRT station as well as Serangoon MRT station just a stone's throw away, that adds access to the Circle Line and North-East Line. 

Additionally, NTP+, New Tech Park's mall with various retail options is located beside the site, as well as Bishan Junction 8 and Nex, both a station away, makes the site a lot more attractive. Homeowners can also expect strong leasing interest from families of foreign professionals given that the site is situated next to the Australian International School.

Bayshore Road

The site at Bayshore Road also seems promising, situated above the newly opened Bayshore MRT station. This site was moved from the Reserve List in H1 2024 to the Confirmed List in H2 2024. Potential residents will be able to enjoy the convenience of mass transit access to the Central Business District (CBD), Gardens by the Bay, as well as the Orchard Road Shopping Belt via the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). 

Furthermore, residents can easily reach Changi Airport, which is a ten-minute drive eastward. As the last two GLS land tenders (The Bayshore and Costa Del Sol) along Bayshore Road were more than two decades ago, this Bayshore Road site could pique developers’ interest, knowing that the project can be sold at a high premium given the development of the Long Island reclamation and development along the eastern coast of Singapore.

River Valley Green (Parcel B)

The River Valley Green (Parcel B) site has also been moved from the Reserve List in H1 2024 to the Confirmed List in H2 2024, where a portion of the GFA will be for Serviced Apartments. This mitigates a developer’s risk of incurring ABSD as a result of not being able to fully sell all the residential homes within the five-year timeline, seeing as there are two other residential sites in the immediate vicinity. The site is located next to the Great World MRT Station, which is a stop away from the Orchard Road shopping belt.