When I covered Sembawang Anchor, Bayshore Oasis and Plantation Dew earlier this week, HDB hadn't yet revealed the other four projects. Now the full picture is in — including Toa Payoh Hillside, the launch's only Prime project. Here's what changed.
HDB has now confirmed all 7,964 flats in the November 2026 BTO exercise — up from the three projects I previewed earlier this week. The four newly detailed projects are Toa Payoh Hillside (1,432 units, the launch's only Prime project), Bayshore Sails (1,637 units in Bedok), Merpati Meadow (438 units in Geylang) and Chencharu Acres (1,582 units in Yishun). Applications close 10 November.
I wrote about Sembawang Anchor, Bayshore Oasis and Plantation Dew when HDB first flagged this exercise, but at the time four other projects — in Bedok, Geylang, Toa Payoh and Yishun — hadn't been detailed. HDB has now launched the full exercise, and the standout is Toa Payoh Hillside: the first new BTO project in the town in three years, and this round's only Prime classification. Here's the complete breakdown.
Seven projects, 7,964 units, across six towns. Here's how they compare on classification, size and waiting time.
| Project | Town | Class | Units | Waiting time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toa Payoh Hillside | Toa Payoh | Prime | 1,432 | 45 mo |
| Bayshore Sails | Bedok | Plus | 1,637 | 44 mo |
| Bayshore Oasis | Bedok | Plus | 855 | 38 mo |
| Merpati Meadow | Geylang | Plus | 438 | 39 mo |
| Sembawang Anchor | Sembawang | Standard | 1,310 | 34 mo |
| Plantation Dew | Tengah | Standard | 710 | 38 mo |
| Chencharu Acres | Yishun | Standard | 1,582 | 39–41 mo |
For the fuller story on Sembawang Anchor, Bayshore Oasis and Plantation Dew — including what the raised income ceiling means for this exercise — see my earlier preview piece. Below, I'll focus on what's newly confirmed.
Toa Payoh Hillside sits next to Caldecott MRT station, an interchange between the Circle Line and Thomson-East Coast Line — which is exactly why it carries HDB's Prime classification. Prime and Plus flats sit closer to the city centre, transport nodes and amenities, and in exchange come with a 10-year minimum occupation period and a subsidy clawback payable to HDB upon resale. Toa Payoh Hillside's clawback is 11%, the only specific figure HDB has disclosed for this exercise.
The project offers 1,432 units across two-room flexi, four-room flats, and 256 community care apartments — the first such assisted-living flats offered in Toa Payoh. These come with wheelchair-accessible facilities and on-site health and community support for seniors living independently, and from this exercise, the minimum age to apply has been lowered to 55, from 65 previously.
PropNex CEO Kelvin Fong expects strong demand given the Caldecott location, though he flagged that recent community care apartment launches have been undersubscribed — the compulsory monthly service package may hold less appeal for applicants in their late 50s and early 60s who are still working and in good health, even with the wider age eligibility.
For context on resale pricing nearby: HDB cited recent four-room resale transactions in Toa Payoh at around $820,000 to $1.2 million — well above Toa Payoh Hillside's four-room price from $558,000. That gap is a large part of why Prime projects like this one draw strong applicant numbers despite the longer wait and resale restrictions.
Bayshore Sails is the largest project in this exercise at 1,637 units, sitting in the same emerging Bayshore precinct as Bayshore Oasis, near the upcoming Bayshore MRT station. As a Plus project, it carries the same 10-year MOP and subsidy clawback conditions as Toa Payoh Hillside, though HDB hasn't disclosed its specific clawback percentage. At 44 months, its wait is only slightly longer than Bayshore Oasis's 38 months.
I've covered the wider Bedok market before — see my Bedok property investment guide for context on the town beyond this single launch.
Merpati Meadow in Geylang offers 438 units — the smallest project this round — as a Plus flat near Mattar MRT station and Aljunied Park. Chencharu Acres in Yishun is the second-largest project at 1,582 units, classified as Standard with no subsidy clawback and a five-year MOP, located a five-minute walk from Khatib MRT station.
A worked comparison, not advice (my own illustration from the published figures). Toa Payoh Hillside's four-room flats start from $558,000 with an 11% clawback on resale. If that flat is eventually resold for, say, $900,000 — purely illustrative, not a forecast — roughly $99,000 would be payable to HDB before any resale levy or other costs. A comparable four-room Standard flat like Chencharu Acres, from $353,000, carries no such clawback at all. The Prime location premium is real, but so is what you give up on exit.
Work out your loan eligibility, CPF usage and monthly instalment across any of these seven projects before you apply.
Open the purchase planner →Applications for this exercise close at 11.59pm on 10 November via the HDB Flat Portal. Minister Chee Hong Tat noted on Facebook that more than one in three flats this round are two-room flexi units, in line with his earlier pledge to raise the proportion of such flats for singles and smaller households — and said affordability remains the biggest consideration for most applicants, alongside wanting to move in sooner or find a home suited to their stage of life.
Looking ahead, HDB's February 2027 exercise will offer around 4,300 flats in Bishan, Tampines, Tengah and Toa Payoh, with community care apartments in one of the two Tampines projects, plus roughly 5,000 balance flats.
The gap between this exercise's Prime project and its Standard ones is the real story here. Toa Payoh Hillside's Caldecott location is genuinely rare for a BTO launch, and the resale gap versus existing Toa Payoh flats shows why — but the 11% clawback and 10-year MOP are a real cost you're committing to decades before you'll pay it.
If you're drawn to Toa Payoh Hillside for the location, model what an 11% clawback looks like against a realistic future resale price before you apply, not after you're balloted a unit — the maths changes the calculus more than people expect.
If you're applying to a Standard project instead, remember you're trading some of that future upside for a cleaner exit — no clawback, shorter MOP. Which one suits you depends on how you expect to use the flat, not just which one you can afford today. Happy to run through it with you.
Weighing a Prime, Plus or Standard flat in this exercise — or wondering how it stacks up against resale? Let's talk it through.
WhatsApp Bryan → More guides →Source: The Straits Times, 5 November 2026, "7,964 BTO flats launched as higher income ceilings take effect" by Isabelle Liew, citing HDB and National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat. See also our earlier November 2026 BTO preview and Bedok property investment guide. The worked clawback comparison is my own calculation for illustration only, based on an assumed resale price, and is not a forecast of any flat's future value. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
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