Redhill Peaks BTO Review (October 2025)

The potential Redhill Peaks BTO site located between Redhill Close and Jalan Bukit Merah, opposite Gateway Theatre, is in a highly sought-after, central, mature estate, and is classified under the Prime category.

• Address: Jalan Bukit Merah
• Total Units: 1,021
• Unit Types: 2-Room Flexi, 4-Room
• Wait Time: 4 Years, 5 Month
• Category: Prime

Prices

• 2-Room: $183,000 - $359,000
• 4-Room: $541,000 - $778,000

Redhill’s History

Redhill, or Bukit Merah as it is known in Malay, holds a colourful and dramatic history that is even embedded in its name. The term “Bukit Merah” literally translates to “Red Hill,” and there are two main explanations for its etymology.

Hang Nadim’s Swordfish Folklore

The most famous is a captivating Malay folklore concerning a clever young boy named Hang Nadim. The tale recounts how the coast of Singapore was plagued by ferocious swordfish, and the boy ingeniously suggested building a barrier of banana tree trunks to trap them. His solution saved the villagers and earned him immense popularity, which in turn sparked the jealousy of the Sultan. The ruler ordered the boy’s execution, and it is said that the boy’s blood flowed profusely down the hill where he was killed, staining the soil permanently red, thus giving the area its name.

Red-Brown Soil

A more factual account suggests the name simply derived from the naturally occurring reddish-brown, iron-rich lateritic soil that was exposed when the area was first excavated for development in the 1950s.

Plantations, Brickwork Factories

The development of Redhill into a prime residential estate began in earnest in the post-war era. Before its urbanisation, the Bukit Merah area was known for its gambier and pepper plantations during the colonial period and later housed small industries like brickwork factories and mills.

Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) Flats

Crucially, Redhill became a key area for the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT), the pre-cursor to the HDB. In 1955, the SIT built some of Singapore’s earliest public housing blocks at Redhill Close, which were famously 7-storey blocks known in Hokkien as “Chik Lau Chu.” These flats were initially rental units to house residents from the surrounding kampongs (villages) and marked the beginning of modern public housing in the area, gradually replacing the informal settlements and making it a more orderly, albeit dense, residential area.

Positioned right on the city fringe, the area benefited immensely from improved road networks and, most significantly, the introduction of the MRT system in the late 1980s, with the opening of Redhill MRT Station. Redhill MRT Station (EW18) officially opened on 12 March 1988. It was part of the expansion of the East-West Line that opened the stretch of stations between Outram Park and Clementi (excluding Dover).

This connectivity—being just a few stops from the CBD—made the mature estate highly attractive to Singaporeans. Coupled with its established amenities, such as the famous Redhill Market and proximity to the fashionable Tiong Bahru neighbourhood, the area has maintained its status as a highly coveted residential location, commanding some of the highest resale prices for public housing and ensuring that any new developments, such as this upcoming Redhill Peaks BTO, are met with intense demand.

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Location

The Redhill Peak BTO location offers exceptional connectivity and convenience. You’ll be within a short stroll of Redhill MRT Station (East-West Line), which provides rapid access to the entire city. For those who work in the Central Business District (CBD), it’s just a few stops away from major employment hubs like Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar.

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Mature Estate

Furthermore, the area is a mature estate with amenities already established, meaning you won’t have to wait for shops or food courts to be built. You’ll have the popular Redhill Market and Food Centre nearby for your daily meals, and the trendy Tiong Bahru neighbourhood, with its boutique cafes and Tiong Bahru Plaza, is also easily accessible. In the long term, properties in this locale historically command a high resale value due to their city-fringe status and scarcity.

Prime Category

The biggest consideration is the Prime category restrictions. You will be subject to a 10-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) instead of the standard 5 years. This means you are locked into the property for twice as long before you can sell it on the open market. Additionally, you will face a subsidy clawback when you eventually sell, where a percentage of the sale price must be returned to the government. This significantly limits your potential profits from the excellent appreciation the location offers.

Application Rate

As this is such a Prime site, it will inevitably be heavily oversubscribed, making your chances of successfully securing a ballot number much slimmer. Finally, HDB flats will be priced at a premium even with subsidies, and being sandwiched between two busy roads—Redhill Close and Jalan Bukit Merah—means you should anticipate road noise for the lower floors and those facing the main thoroughfare.

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