The new rule will come into effect from August when HDB flats are booked and remaining HDB flats are sold.

According to data provided by HDB, in the past three years, about 40 per cent of applicants invited to buy flats did not end up placing orders. This has also resulted in those homebuyers who are in urgent need of housing losing out on the opportunity to buy, as well as costing the relevant departments a lot of resources in the busy application, balloting and booking processes.

To ensure that needy homebuyers are able to purchase HDB flats faster, the National Development Minister told the Parliamentary Finance Committee that the government will strengthen the relevant regulations.

From August 2023, if invited first-time buyers give up their right to buy, they will lose their first-time buyer priority for the following year, while in the case of second-time buyers, they will not be able to apply to buy a reserved HDB flat for a year.

In addition, up to 40% of the flats will be reserved for this group of applicants from the BTO campaign in August, up from the current 30%.

Up to 60% of SBF flats will also be reserved for them, up from the current 50%. SBF units are usually already completed or in various stages of construction.

Currently, only first-time buyers and second-time buyers who have given up their right to buy twice in a row will lose their priority to apply.

Nearly 100,000 homes are expected to be completed in the private and public housing market by 2023 to 2025.