The government has announced that starting from the August HDB sales campaign, there will be a new priority group of "First Time Buyers (Parents and Couples)", who will be given three chances to win in the lottery when applying for a pre-purchased HDB flat or a surplus HDB flat. However, the lottery rules will also be tightened so that all first-time buyers who abstain from selecting a flat when invited to do so will be considered as second-time buyers for the following year.

Currently, all first-time buyers have two chances to win in the lottery. All other groups of buyers, including second-time buyers, have only one chance to win.

In order to be a first time home buyer (parents & couples), the following 3 conditions need to be met:

Have at least 1 Singapore Citizen child aged 18 years and below, or a married couple aged 40 years and below

Have never owned or sold a residential property

Have not had the opportunity to book a BTO/SBF flat in the past 5 years prior to application

In addition, HDB has announced the launch of a new Single Room Shared Facilities (SRSF) rental pilot programme for singles.

The pilot scheme will be implemented at the former Anderson Serangoon Junior College student hostel site at Ang Mo Kio 8 Road, with a total of 480 flats in two 11-storey hostel blocks.

Under the pilot scheme, low-income singletons will be able to apply for the new type of shared rental accommodation on their own, where each tenant will have his/her own single room of about 9 square metres in size, and will be furnished with daily household appliances such as bed frames, wardrobes, desks, mini-fridges, etc. Twenty-four tenants on each floor will share communal facilities, such as kitchens equipped with five burner cookers, sinks and cupboards.

There will be two communal bathrooms on each floor, meaning that approximately 12 people will share three showers and three to four toilets.