Supply from the confirmed list totals 4,575 private homes, including 635 executive condominium units, along with 22,500 square metres (sq m) of commercial space.
[SINGAPORE] Ten new sites will be offered under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme for private residential development in the first half of 2026, comprising seven sites on the confirmed list and three on the reserve list.
Among them is a white site at Town Hall Link on the reserve list, which marks the first parcel to be carved out from the Jurong Lake District (JLD) master-developer site.
In a statement on Tuesday (Dec 2), the Ministry of National Development (MND) said that releasing the large JLD site in smaller parcels—starting with the Town Hall Link plot—will help accelerate the development of JLD as Singapore’s largest mixed-use business district outside the city centre.
This approach takes into consideration prevailing macroeconomic and property market conditions, as well as feedback from industry stakeholders, MND added.
Spanning 3.72 hectares (ha), the Town Hall Link site is about half the size of the original JLD master-developer parcel. It has a potential gross floor area (GFA) of 186,000 sq m, comprising at least 40,000 sq m of office space, up to 1,200 private residential units, and 44,000 sq m for other uses such as retail or hospitality.
“The proposed integrated mixed-use development at Town Hall Link will provide the critical mass needed to catalyse the next phase of JLD’s development and support medium-term growth across market segments,” MND said.
Accessibility to the site will be enhanced by the planned opening of the Jurong Region Line in 2028 and the Cross Island Line in 2032. Given the plot’s smaller size, MND said development risks are lower, allowing developers to undertake the project with greater confidence. The government will also carry out certain infrastructure works upfront to help reduce developers’ cost burden.
The original JLD master-developer site was first released on the confirmed list of the H1 2023 GLS programme. Covering 6.5 ha, it comprised three plots intended for development over 10 to 15 years, with plans for at least 1.5 million square feet (sq ft) of office space, up to 1,700 homes and nearly 800,000 sq ft of space for other uses.
In March 2024, a five-member consortium submitted a top bid of S$640 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) for the site. The bid was rejected in September 2024 for being “too low”, and the land was subsequently placed on the reserve list. Adjustments were later made, including reducing the minimum office quantum to 100,000 sq m from 146,000 sq m, while increasing the maximum residential GFA to 186,000 sq m.
Market observers had previously cited high development costs and uncertainty—particularly surrounding office demand—as major deterrents. Desmond Sim, group chief executive officer of Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group, noted that developers also faced “unforeseen responsibilities”, especially in infrastructure works. “That’s not something every developer has experience doing, since it’s almost like developing a township,” he said.
Sim added that the latest changes reflect the government’s willingness to collaborate with the private sector to develop Singapore’s next major business district. While office demand remains uncertain amid broader macroeconomic conditions, he noted that the push for office decentralisation continues and vacancy rates in the Central Business District (CBD) are tightening.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the Town Hall Link site is triggered, perhaps within six months,” he said.
Supply boost
Overall, the H1 2026 GLS confirmed list comprises nine sites that can yield about 4,575 private homes—including 635 executive condominium units—and 22,500 sq m of commercial space.
Of these nine sites, seven are new and are expected to deliver 3,825 residential units. They include a 5.74-ha integrated development site at Bayshore Drive, slated for launch in March, and a 2.54-ha private residential site at Berlayer Drive, expected to be launched in May.
The upcoming supply is slightly lower than the 4,725 units released in the preceding half-year under the H2 2025 GLS programme, which was itself around 6 per cent lower than the 5,030 units offered in H1 2025.
Nevertheless, MND said the additional supply from the H1 2026 confirmed list will increase Singapore’s private housing pipeline to approximately 58,600 units, up from about 54,100 units currently.
“The supply will be drawn from a good spread of sites across various locations, supporting both conventional private homes and long-stay serviced apartments, to cater to owner-occupiers as well as rental demand,” the ministry said.
The reserve list includes 12 sites—six private residential sites, one commercial site, three white sites and two hotel sites—which could yield an estimated 4,610 homes, 186,650 sq m of commercial space and 970 hotel rooms.
Among these, two new residential sites at Morrison Lane and Kitchener Link, along with the Town Hall Link white site, are expected to deliver around 1,535 homes and 84,750 sq m of commercial space.
Knight Frank’s head of research Leonard Tay observed a continuing trend of the government gradually reducing the number of private homes on the confirmed list while expanding the reserve list.
“The message to developers is clear,” Tay said. “If demand exceeds supply from the confirmed list, developers should look to the reserve list to trigger additional sites, even though the reserve list has traditionally seen limited take-up.”
He also pointed out the continued absence of commercial sites within the Downtown Core submarket. With new CBD office supply expected to remain tight until 2028, Tay said introducing a commercial office site could help prevent a repeat of the supply crunch seen in 2006 and 2007, when office rents surged sharply and short-term transitional office sites were introduced as a stopgap.
Others, however, suggested that the lack of major downtown office sites in the H1 2026 GLS programme may be intentional, aimed at encouraging further decentralisation of office development.
Amendment note: A previous version of this story stated that there were 10 confirmed list sites; the correct number is nine.