Tengah: Not just another new town

Singapore, 23 Sep 2016 – The Housing and Development Board (HDB) recently announced its masterplan for a new housing town, Tengah. This will be the 24^th HDB town in Singapore. Presently, Tengah is still a forested area with barely any semblance to a residential estate. However, HDB has extensive plans for the area.Tengah, roughly the size of Bishan, is expected to be home to 42,000 homes, with a mix of both private and public housing. It will be the only HDB town to incorporate smart technologies on a town wide basis from the planning stage. In the planning stage, HDB will utilise the Urban Microclimate Multi-physics Integrated Simulation (UM-MIST) to model real life conditions in Tengah town. Planners will be able to configure building layouts and orientations to optimise wind flow. With this system, greenery can also be introduced in areas with higher ambient heat so as to create a cooler living environment.

On a more micro level, smart lighting in common areas, regenerative lifts, eco pedestals and the Pneumatic Waste Conveyance System (PWCS) are smart technologies which help to create a greener living environment. The PWCS essentially automates the entire waste collection and management process, thereby removing the need for human labour. The PCWS will also monitor residents’ waste disposal patterns to optimise resources for waste collection.

Keeping to its theme of Forest Town, key developments in Tengah include a car free town centre, a forest corridor and a Central Park. The town centre is designed to be pedestrian friendly, with vehicles going underneath it. The forest corridor will be a habitat to many species of trees and residents will be able to enjoy it via its hiking trails. The Central Park will be the centerpiece of the greenery in Tengah, offering residents a spot to relax and carry out various recreational activities.

Transport infrastructure will also be built up, with the town being served by a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the Jurong Region Line, which connects Tengah with the major commercial clusters at Jurong Gateway and Boon Lay. Buses will also ply Tengah, with most bus stops located within 300 metres of homes.

With its first batch of HDB flats being targeted for launch in 2018, it remains to be seen whether Tengah will be popular with buyers, as many may currently consider it too far flung. However, we can look to past towns planned and built by HDB to get a sense of things to come.

In particular, we make a comparison to Punggol, the previous new town planned by HDB. Similar to Tengah, Punggol was largely undeveloped and at that time, thought to be too distant from the city centre. Detailed plans for Punggol were only announced during the National Day Rally in 2007 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Since then, Punggol has become a bustling town, with more than 35,000 HDB flats completed and another 14,000 under construction. Its major mall, Waterway Point, opened earlier this year and is home to retailers such as H&M, Uniqlo and Laneige. Travelling within Punggol is easy with the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system and bus services. Inter-town travel is also convenient, as Punggol is a station on the North East Line, which connects it to other places in Singapore, such as Dhoby Ghaut and Harbourfront.

As a result of all these developments, properties in Punggol have become increasingly more sought after. In the most recent sales launch of new HDB flats in Punggol, there were 6,254 applicants vying for 2,715 units. This was despite the units not being near Punggol MRT station and the town centre. Median resale prices of flats in Punggol have also increased from $252,500 (4-room) and $307,000 (5-room) in Q2 2007 to $445,000 (4-room) and $450,000 (5-room) in Q2 2016. In particular, prices of 4-room flats in Punggol are pricier than those in other popular estates such as Jurong East and West, Tampines, Serangoon and Bedok, reflecting the popularity of Punggol.

Tengah, in the same vein, could possibly go through the same journey. Residents of Tengah will be well placed to ride the wave of development in the Western Region of Singapore. With its strategic location just beside the Jurong Innovation District, demand for housing in Tengah is almost certainly expected to be firm. However, at the onset, residents are expected to be those moving in from the neighbouring towns of Bukit Batok and Choa Chu Kang, as they are most familiar with the area. Given its location in the north-west and the perceived relative lack of amenities in the infancy stage of town development, Tengah flats are expected to be priced affordably. This will be attractive to young couples who are looking to buy their first home as they now have another option.

In the long run, Tengah is definitely an up and coming new town with significant potential for capital appreciation over time.

By Eugene Lim, Key Executive Officer and Seah Yao Hui, Assistant Manager, Research