How Much Does It Really Cost To Live Within 1km of a Popular Primary School?

When it comes to buying an HDB flat in Singapore.

There’re plenty of things to think about.

And if you’re planning to have kids.

You’ll probably want to live within a 1km radius of the primary school of your choice.

Y’know, because of how home-to-school distance affects priority admission?

And you want your kids to start their education with a solid foundation?

Yep.

We’re kiasu (Hokkien: afraid of losing out) like that.

So… how much does it cost to live within 1km of a popular primary school?

Is it going to cost you more if you do?

---

TL;DR: 4-Room HDB Resale Flat Prices Within 1km Radius of Popular Primary Schools

With resale flats, you have the flexibility of location which is great when you have a specific primary school in mind.

For some popular primary schools, the cost of an HDB Resale flat that is within a 1km radius might not be that different from the cost of an HDB BTO in the same general area.

FYI: the BTO might not even be anywhere near a primary school or the school which you want

But you also need to account for other factors like which floor the resale flat is at and what kind of amenities are nearby.

Because these could add to the cost of buying a Resale flat.

Also, these are just past transactional resale prices (read: I can’t guarantee that prices will stay that way moving forward)

That being said, with the existing Enhanced CPF Housing Grant and Proximity Housing Grant available for Resale flat buyers.

There’s a chance that you might pay lesser for an HDB Resale flat that is in an even better location as compared to an HDB BTO.

So always shop around before making a decision!

Have questions about property? Why not ask the friendly SeedlyCommunity, or chime in if you’ve got a perspective to share!

---

How Does Distance Affect My Child’s Admission to Primary School?

The reason why many decide to buy (or rent) a property that is specifically within a 1 or 2km radius from a primary school.

Is because if the school has more registrants than vacancies available during any phase of the Primary (P1) Registration.

Priority admission will be given based on your child’s citizenship as well as his or her home-to-school distance in this order:

Also, for your child to gain priority admission, they will need to reside at the address used for the registration for at least 30 months from the start of the P1 Registration (read: make sure you DO NOT move).

If this condition is not met, MOE has the right to transfer your kid to another school with vacancies.

See why it’s important to live (or at least rent) within the 1km radius?

How Do I Know If My Property Is Within the 1km Radius of the School?

You can use MOE’s Distance Checker to see which schools are within 2km of your potential home.

Alternatively, you can use the Singapore Land Authority’s OneMap School Query service.

Here’s how.

STEP 1: Click on “SchoolQuery”

STEP 2: Select “Find Primary School Information”

STEP 3: If you have the address of a Resale Flat in mind…

If you already have an HDB Resale flat in mind and want to confirm that it is within the 1 to 2km radius of a primary school.

Use “Find Schools Near a Building” and enter the residential address in the “Search & Explore” field.

A list of schools which are within 1km (red) and between 1 to 2km (blue) of the address will be generated.

STEP 4: If you’re just checking out which HDB estates are near a specific primary school

If you want to know which HDB estates are within the 1 to 2km radius of a specific primary school.

Use “Find Building Near a School” and select the primary school of your choice.

A list of buildings which are within 1km (red) and between 1 to 2km (blue) of the school will be generated.

What Are the Most Popular Primary Schools in Singapore?

To be clear, I’m not here to dispute MOE’s narrative that “all schools are good schools”.

The list I’m about to share is also NOT an exhaustive list of primary schools in Singapore either.

To get this list, I simply polled a few of my friends and the Seedly team to get a sense of where they would want their kids to go to in the future.

#justsaying

How To Pick a Property Near a Popular Primary School?

Because of the 30-months’ stay requirement for priority admission.

You’ll need to plan ahead and not leave house-hunting to the very last minute.

Resale flats are usually readily available — if you’re not picky, that is.

But if you want a resale flat in a location that is near the amenities and primary school which you want…

It’s going to take a while to find that dream property.

For schools in areas where there are more private housing than HDB estates, it’ll make your search that much harder.

Unless you’re open to buying or renting a condominium…

Which is probably going to be a more expensive option.

Here are also some things to take note when getting a property within 1km of a school.

1. Consider Locations With More Than One School Within the 1km Radius

You might be living within 1 or 2km of the school.

But if the school is really popular, there’ll be many other children — who also live in the vicinity — applying for the same limited spots.

If it comes down to a ballot, you have to be prepared that your child may or may not be successful.

So instead of sending your child to wherever MOE decides.

It’s not a bad idea to expand your list of preferred schools a bit more.

P.S. You can use the “Find Schools Near a Building” option on OneMap to help you do this.

2. Pick a Co-ed School

Choosing to live near a co-ed school means that your child or children can all attend the same school.

This will definitely make school runs a lot easier.

And you might even be able to save on textbooks and materials for the younger child.

Since they can just share or reuse whatever their older sibling had.

3. Pay Attention to the Layout

When choosing between different housing estates, pay attention to the layout and routes to school.

One might have a more direct route.

While the other might require your child to cross 5 roads, pass an obstacle course, and jump through a ring of fire.

I’m exaggerating.

But you get what I mean.

4. Be Close But Not That Close

While it’s great that you live right across the road from the school.

You need to think about the potential congestion around your estate when other parents drop off or pick up their kids.

Being close to the school compound also means that it might be a little noisier throughout the day.

4-Room HDB Resale Flat Prices Within 1km Radius of Popular Primary Schools

With HDB BTOs, it’s already hard enough to get a ballot.

Much less find a project that just nice will be built right next to the school of your choice.

So you’re probably better off looking at HDB Resale flats instead since you’ll have the flexibility of choosing the location of your property.

With this in mind, I went to the HDB website and looked up the transacted prices for resale flats within the past 12 months.

My criteria?

• 4-Room HDB flat (since that’s the most popular flat type amongst Singaporeans)
• within 1km radius of the primary school in question
• not a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flat (because they’re usually priced at a premium over regular HDB flats)
• doesn’t matter which level the flat is at (because that would just make my life even harder…)

And this is what I found:

Note: information is correct as of 28 August 2020; all prices rounded up to the nearest $1,000

Oh, remember that these are just past transactional resale prices.

So we’ll just be using them as a broad gauge because nobody can guarantee that prices will stay this way moving forward.

So… Is It Expensive To Live Within 1km of a Popular Primary School?

For certain schools like Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), Methodist Girls’ School (Primary), and Raffles Girls’ Primary School.

Finding an HDB flat in those areas might be difficult as they’re predominantly surrounded by private housing or condos (read: expensive).

Using the indicative prices for a 4-Room HDB BTO flat during the HDB BTO launch in August 2020 as a comparison since BTOs are supposed to be cheaper than Resale:

CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School (Primary) in Ang Mo Kio

BTO in general area (Kebun Baru Edge): $423,000 to $550,000

Resale within 1km of school: ~$370,000

Catholic High School (Primary) in Bishan

BTO in general area (Bishan Towers): $484,000 to $617,000

Resale within 1km of school: ~$567,500

St Hilda’s Primary School in Tampines

BTO in general area (Tampines GreenOpal): $311,000 to $390,000

Resale within 1km of school: ~$405,000

.

.

.

The verdict?

It depends.

For certain popular primary schools, the cost of an HDB Resale flat that is within a 1km radius isn’t that different from the cost of an HDB BTO in the same general area.

Also, with the BTO, it might not even be anywhere near the popular primary school.

So does that mean that resale is the way?

Not quite… the resale prices which I listed don’t take into account stuff like

• which floor the resale flat is at (the higher it is, the more expensive)
• the surrounding amenities of certain properties (which is why one block of flats might be more expensive than another despite both being in the same area)

But what this tells us is that before you apply for an HDB BTO, you might want to shop around for an HDB Resale flat too.

Especially if you have a particular primary school in mind.

On top of that, with the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant and Proximity Housing Grant available for Resale flat buyers.

You might even end up paying lesser for an HDB Resale flat which is in an even better location as compared to an HDB BTO.

After all, you can’t really put a price on your child’s education, right?