Tanglin Halt Courtyard & Tanglin Cascadia BTO Guide

In October 2023, HDB announced that up to 5,500 flats will be built as part of redevelopment plans for Tanglin Halt, which is in Queenstown and is one of Singapore’s oldest housing estates.

The rejuvenated Tanglin Halt estate will have an integrated development where HDB flats will be connected to shops and a hawker centre and market.

Tanglin Halt market is still in operation, and stallholders will move into the integrated development when the first phase of work is complete.

In February 2024, HDB announced that the vacated HDB blocks in Tanglin Halt will be used as interim rental for families waiting for their new HDB BTO flats. Click here to jump to the bottom of this article to read more about Tanglin Halt BTO interim rental flats under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS). To qualify for an interim HDB rental flat under PPHS while waiting for your BTO, your household income should be lesser than $7,000. If you have at least one child aged 18 and below, you will be prioritised in the allocation of PPHS HDB flats.

Tanglin Halt BTO (Summary)

Tanglin Halt Courtyard

A new Tanglin Halt Courtyard BTO project was recently launched in the February 2024 BTO sale exercise. Tanglin Halt Courtyard BTO comprised 251 units of 2-room Flexi and 4-room flats.

Tanglin Halt Courtyard Location

Tanglin Halt Courtyard will be situated between Commonwealth Drive and Tanglin Halt Road, with a neighbourhood centre right beside. If you were to visit the site now, the address will be 17A Tanglin Halt Road. There, you will find a series of abandoned HDBs and the former famous Tanglin Halt food hawker centre.

It will take you a short 8 minutes' walk from Commonwealth MRT Station to reach the Tanglin Halt Courtyard BTO project.

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Tanglin Halt Cascadia

New flats forming part of the integrated development will be launched for sale in 2024.

The first Build-To-Order project in the estate, Tanglin Halt Cascadia, was launched in the October 2023 sales exercise under the Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) model. The 973-unit project had a first-timer application rate of less than one, meaning all first-time home seekers will likely get a chance to select a unit.

HDB told The Straits Times that the rest of Tanglin Halt estate will be redeveloped in the next 10 to 15 years.

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Tanglin Halt BTO Map

The development will be built on the site of the former Tanglin Halt Neighbourhood Centre, which houses the existing Tanglin Halt Market and the former Commonwealth Drive Food Centre.

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Tanglin Halt Redevelopment Plan

Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How on Thursday, 19 October 2023 said the estate’s redevelopment will provide more housing opportunities for future generations, including for young families who wish to live near their parents.

“With more young residents moving into the estate, the Tanglin Halt community will also become more vibrant over time,” he said at HDB’s professional engagement and knowledge-sharing forum at HDB Hub in Toa Payoh.

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Tanglin Halt SERS En Block

The estate, comprising 3,480 households, was identified for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme in 2014. The majority of its former residents have since moved to replacement homes in Dawson, and the old buildings are being demolished.

Construction works for the integrated development will be split into two phases, starting with the site of the former Commonwealth Drive Food Centre in the second half of 2024.

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Tanglin Halt Market Redevelopment

When the first phase is completed, stallholders at the adjacent Tanglin Halt Market will move to the new development, and the second phase of construction will begin at the vacated market. This is to minimise disruption to the stallholders, HDB added.

HDB said the integrated development’s design will incorporate elements of the food centre’s iconic hexagonal shape and the barrel vault shape of Tanglin Halt Market. It will also have courtyard spaces like the former neighbourhood centre.

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Tanglin Halt History

Mr Tan said the authorities will carry out redevelopment plans sensitively, and preserve as much of the estate’s history and heritage as possible.

“As we introduce new features to refresh the estate, we will also ensure that we retain the estate’s rich heritage and mature greenery.”

For example, blocks 69 and 70 in Commonwealth Drive, which were built by the now-defunct Singapore Improvement Trust, could be repurposed as community spaces as part of a park, HDB said.

To pay homage to the old chap lau chu, or “10-storey house” in Hokkien, new blocks near the Rail Corridor will be kept at 10 storeys, it added. These have been offered as part of Tanglin Halt Cascadia.

Landscaping and recreational facilities will be introduced for the stretch of the Rail Corridor that runs along the edge of Tanglin Halt, and there will be a new park to serve as a community space and pit stop for residents.

In addition, a linear park will be built to connect Commonwealth MRT station and the Rail Corridor, while Commonwealth Drive will be turned into a pedestrian-friendly zone with cycling and pedestrian footpaths.

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Tanglin Halt BTO may have rental flats

When asked if Tanglin Halt will have rental flats, Mr Tan said it is something the authorities are looking at. He added that having a good social mix is one of the objectives they have in mind for the neighbourhood.

Property analysts said the flats to be launched in Tanglin Halt will likely be PLH units – which will be known as Prime flats from the second half of 2024 – following in the footsteps of Tanglin Halt Cascadia.

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Tanglin Halt BTO likely to be Prime flats

In particular, flats in the integrated development are likely to be launched under the Prime model as it is located near Commonwealth MRT station and offers a host of facilities, said PropNex Realty head of research and content Wong Siew Ying.

Huttons Asia senior director of data analytics Lee Sze Teck said the complex could yield between 700 and 800 flats and may exceed 40 storeys. He added that there could be more interest in adjacent flats in Commonwealth View, which do not have resale restrictions, unlike the Tanglin Halt Cascadia project. Commonwealth View’s resale flat prices could exceed $1 million, he added.

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Queenstown Redevelopment Plan

HDB said the plans for Tanglin Halt complement broader rejuvenation plans for Queenstown.

Since September 2023, HDB has been announcing rejuvenation plans for the fourth batch of towns under the Remaking Our Heartland programme – Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Merah, Choa Chu Kang and Queenstown.

Queenstown is set to undergo a facelift, with new parks, exercise trails, cycling paths and therapeutic gardens to be rolled out from 2025.

About 79,000 residents in Queenstown and Farrer Road estate will benefit from the improvements.

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Tanglin Halt HDB Interim Rental Flats

About 2,000 vacated flats across 17 blocks in Tanglin Halt will form the bulk of extra supply of interim rental housing for families waiting for their new Build-To-Order (BTO) flats.

Tanglin Halt SERS

These homes, located among the 31 blocks in Tanglin Halt that were selected for redevelopment in 2014, will be spruced up and let out for temporary housing under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) from the second half of 2025, the Housing Board said on Feb 5, 2024.

Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) HDB Flats

HDB had committed to double its supply of interim rental flats under the PPHS scheme from the 2,000 units now to 4,000 units by 2025.

The board said the Tanglin Halt flats, located in Commonwealth Drive and Tanglin Halt Road, will eventually be demolished to make way for redevelopment. Another four blocks in the area now house interim rental flats.

Tanglin Halt en bloc to Dawson

The Tanglin Halt estate, comprising 3,480 households, was identified for SERS in 2014. The initial batch of residents who opted for replacement homes in the nearby Dawson estate started collecting their keys in December 2019. Most stallholders from the former Commonwealth Drive Food Centre have relocated to the new Margaret Drive Hawker Centre.

The previous residents have since moved to replacement homes in Dawson, HDB added.

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Tanglin Halt HDB Demolish

Asked when the blocks will be demolished, HDB said agencies are studying the detailed plans for the estate and more details will be provided when ready.

It added that, generally, HDB blocks under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme, (or SERS), will be demolished after flat owners have moved into their replacement flats.

For any portion of the site for which there are no immediate redevelopment plans, HDB will consider deferring demolition works to use the blocks for interim purposes, it said.

“Demolition works for part of the estate have been completed, and construction of phase one of the Tanglin Halt integrated development will commence in 2024,” HDB added.

To refurbish the flats set aside for PPHS, which are around 50 years old, HDB will replace fittings and fixtures such as water pipes, floor tiles and sanitary wares, and do electrical and painting works. It will also carry out improvement works in common areas such as lift lobbies and outdoor spaces.

HDB said it is working with stakeholders to provide amenities such as playgrounds and childcare centres there. Residents will be served by the nearby Tanglin Halt market, which has eateries and shops.

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PPHS HDB Tanglin Halt

“The supply of PPHS flats is limited and depends on the availability of vacant flats not needed for other purposes, such as those in vacated blocks that are not immediately needed for redevelopment,” HDB added.

HDB said it has increased the supply of interim housing from 800 units in 2021 to about 2,000 units now.

The number of applications under the scheme has come down significantly, from more than 20 applicants vying for each available flat in 2021, to 2.6 in December 2023, it said.

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PPHS HDB Flats Income Ceiling

Those eligible for PPHS flats must have a monthly household income of $7,000 or below, and have an uncompleted flat from HDB’s sales exercises.

Married couples, including expectant parents, with at least one child aged 18 and below will be prioritised in the allocation of flats under the scheme.

Since the scheme started in 2013, more than 4,200 families have benefited from it.

PPHS HDB Flat Rental Price

Mr Muhammed Afiq Aman, 33, secured a three-room interim flat in Boon Lay for $600 a month under the scheme. He applied for the unit under PPHS in May 2022 while waiting for his four-room BTO flat in Kovan, which is expected to be completed in 2027.

“After living with my parents for a year and a half, I thought it was time to move out and be independent, so my wife and I can also have more family time with my son,” said the Singapore Armed Forces regular serviceman, who moved into his interim flat in November 2023. His son is now two.

Corporate sales executive Lee Jia Yi, 32, who moved into her interim flat in Toa Payoh in 2020, said she applied for the unit under PPHS as she was living with her in-laws and wanted space for her daughters, now aged three and six. “Once we selected a unit, we could collect the keys immediately,” said Ms Lee, who is expecting her BTO flat in the same estate to be ready by the end of 2024.

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This article and all images were first published in The Straits Times.