Toa Payoh Gets a Second Heart: What 6,000 New Homes at Caldecott Add to an Old Town
HDB's plan for Toa Payoh West brings over 6,000 homes, the town's first mall, a wellness park and a possible new school to the area around Caldecott MRT. We looked at what is there today, what flats near the station sell for, and what the plan means for owners and buyers.
On 31 October 2026 HDB unveiled a masterplan for Toa Payoh West, the area around Caldecott MRT: over 6,000 new homes over the coming decade, mostly public housing with some private, a mixed-use development with Toa Payoh's first shopping mall, a 1.2ha wellness park, a "central green valley" of parks, a 15m-wide walkway to Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, and a new school under study. The first project is the roughly 1,600-flat Toa Payoh Hillside BTO next to Caldecott station, launching in November 2026. On PropKaki's analysis of HDB's block records, Toa Payoh has 48,947 HDB flats, so 6,000 homes would add about 12.3%. URA's Toa Payoh West subzone holds 5,627 flats today, 60.9% of them in blocks completed from 1967 to 1973. Over the year to September 2026, 4-room flats with 85 or more years left in Toa Payoh West resold at a median $1,130,000, or $1,129 psf. Resale condos within about 1 km of Caldecott sold at medians of $1,608 to $2,343 psf, old-lease Braddell View aside.
The Straits Times reported on 1 November that the western part of Toa Payoh, around Caldecott MRT station, will be rebuilt over the coming decade with over 6,000 new homes, a set of parks, Toa Payoh's first shopping mall and, possibly, a new school. National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat, who is also the area's MP, unveiled the plans on 31 October. Mothership quoted him calling the area a future "second heart" for Toa Payoh, next to Toa Payoh Central.
Toa Payoh is one of Singapore's oldest HDB towns, and the west side is among its oldest corners. So we looked at the plan the way a resident or a buyer might: how big 6,000 homes is next to what is already there, how old the flats around Caldecott are, what they sell for compared with the rest of the town, and what nearby condos cost.
A second heart, next to Caldecott
HDB plans over 6,000 homes around Caldecott MRT, mostly public, plus Toa Payoh's first mall, parks and a possible school.
The plan covers the western side of Toa Payoh, the area between Caldecott MRT station and Lorong 1 Toa Payoh. According to The Straits Times, HDB said it will hold over 6,000 homes, "mostly public housing and some private housing", built over the coming decade.
The minister's pitch was about more than flats. Mothership reported that he described planning "the town as a whole": homes, transport, shopping, exercise and healthcare, and "where children can play, and where neighbours can meet". He said Toa Payoh West would become "a second heart for Toa Payoh".
The first piece is already on the calendar. Toa Payoh Hillside, a BTO project of about 1,600 flats next to Caldecott station, will be offered in HDB's November 2026 sales exercise, and the minister said it would "anchor" the area. We will leave the details of that launch to our November BTO coverage. Here we focus on the bigger plan around it.
What the masterplan actually contains
A mall similar in scale to Woodleigh Mall, a 1.2ha wellness park, a green valley of parks, stepped building heights, a 15m walkway and a school under study.
From HDB's release, as reported by The Straits Times:
- A mall. A mixed-use development next to the Hillside BTO will house Toa Payoh's first shopping mall. The minister said it would be similar in scale to Woodleigh Mall in Bidadari. A plaza in front of it is meant as a place to gather and exercise.
- Parks. The plaza connects to a new 1.2ha wellness park with nature-themed playgrounds, a jogging track, fitness stations, a butterfly trail and gardens. A chain of parks, which HDB calls a "central green valley", will run through the area and link homes to Caldecott station and the mall.
- Building heights. To echo the hilly ground, new blocks will step down towards the valley, with lower buildings and open spaces between taller ones.
- A walkway. A 15m-wide, tree-lined walkway will join Caldecott station to Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, tying the west side to the rest of the town.
- A school, maybe. A new school is being studied for families moving in. HDB did not say what kind.
This sits on top of the Toa Payoh Integrated Development in the town centre, due by 2030. The plans are on show at the HDB Hub gallery, and the minister asked residents to give their views. That matters: this is a plan open to feedback, not a fixed drawing.
An old town that has already started renewing itself
41.9% of Toa Payoh's 48,947 HDB flats are in blocks from the 1960s and 1970s, but 20.8% are in blocks completed since 2020.
Toa Payoh is often called old, and for a large part of it that is true. But our data shows a town that is already halfway through a quiet renewal:
| Block completed | Blocks | Flats | Share of flats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 69 | 10,265 | 21.0% |
| 1970s | 71 | 10,245 | 20.9% |
| 1980s | 80 | 6,498 | 13.3% |
| 1990s | 52 | 5,088 | 10.4% |
| 2000s | 12 | 2,606 | 5.3% |
| 2010s | 23 | 4,084 | 8.3% |
| 2020 to 2025 | 79 | 10,161 | 20.8% |
| All | 386 | 48,947 | 100% |
PropKaki analysis of HDB's block records: residential blocks with at least one flat, rental flats included, weighted by flats.
20,510 flats, or 41.9%, are in blocks finished before 1980. Yet another 10,161 flats, 20.8%, are in blocks finished from 2020 to 2025. Most of those are on the town's eastern side: Bidadari, with 4,786 flats in blocks completed from 2022 to 2025, and Sennett, with 4,086 flats completed from 2019 to 2024.
In other words, Toa Payoh's last big wave of new homes went east, around Woodleigh and Potong Pasir. The masterplan turns the next wave west, towards Caldecott, where many of the oldest flats are.
How big is 6,000 homes for Toa Payoh?
About 12.3% of the town's 48,947 HDB flats, and slightly more than the 5,627 flats in the Toa Payoh West subzone today.
Measured against the whole town, 6,000 homes would add about 12.3% to Toa Payoh's 48,947 HDB flats. Toa Payoh Hillside alone, at about 1,600 flats, is 3.3%. That leaves at least 4,400 more homes for later phases, which HDB has not yet scheduled.
Measured against the neighbourhood, it is much bigger. URA's Toa Payoh West subzone, the planning unit around Caldecott, has 34 HDB blocks with 5,627 flats. The new homes are about 1.1 times that, so the area's housing roughly doubles. Drawing a 1 km circle around Caldecott station instead, we count 84 Toa Payoh blocks with 13,347 flats, or 27.3% of the town.
A note on boundaries: in Toa Payoh, URA's planning area and HDB's town are the same thing. All 386 blocks in the planning area carry HDB's Toa Payoh town code, and no other block does, so the town figures here are not distorted by a boundary mismatch. The masterplan's own boundary has not been published, so the subzone and the 1 km circle are our stand-ins, not HDB's.
Our view: for the town, 6,000 homes over ten years is a steady addition, not a flood. For the streets around Caldecott, it is the biggest change since the estate was built.
What is in Toa Payoh West today?
Mostly 1960s and early-1970s blocks of small flats: 24 of 34 blocks, holding 60.9% of the subzone's flats, were completed from 1967 to 1973.
The neighbourhood around Caldecott is one of the oldest parts of an old town; only Boon Teck has an older median block. Of the 34 blocks in the Toa Payoh West subzone, 24 were completed between 1967 and 1973. They hold 3,426 flats, 60.9% of the subzone, and almost all of them small flats: 93.9% are 1-, 2- or 3-room, in blocks of 10 to 20 storeys along Lorong 1, Lorong 2 and Toa Payoh North.
The rest is much newer: 1,927 flats in eight tall blocks on Lorong 1 completed in 2017 and 2025, plus 2 blocks from 1998.
Here is how Toa Payoh West sits among the town's subzones:
| Subzone | Blocks | Flats | Median year completed | Years | Nearest block to Caldecott |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toa Payoh Central | 68 | 9,636 | 1994 | 1970 to 2012 | 0.5 km |
| Toa Payoh West | 34 | 5,627 | 1969 | 1967 to 2025 | 0.3 km |
| Boon Teck | 39 | 5,498 | 1968 | 1966 to 2018 | 1.2 km |
| Bidadari | 44 | 4,786 | 2023 | 2022 to 2025 | 3.5 km |
| Kim Keat | 31 | 4,090 | 1988 | 1970 to 2025 | 1.9 km |
| Sennett | 32 | 4,086 | 2021 | 2019 to 2024 | 3.5 km |
| Pei Chun | 27 | 3,915 | 1976 | 1969 to 1997 | 1.9 km |
| Potong Pasir | 44 | 3,710 | 1984 | 1983 to 1985 | 2.6 km |
| Braddell | 28 | 3,214 | 1972 | 1967 to 1992 | 0.8 km |
| Lorong 8 Toa Payoh | 20 | 2,664 | 1975 | 1968 to 1977 | 1.6 km |
| Joo Seng | 19 | 1,721 | 1983 | 1968 to 2015 | 4.4 km |
PropKaki analysis of HDB's block records, by URA subzone. Median year is the median block. Distances are straight lines from Caldecott MRT's station point.
The announcement did not say where the 6,000 homes will go, or whether any existing blocks are involved. Nothing reported suggests the old Lorong 1 blocks are being redeveloped, and we would not assume it.
Do flats near Caldecott already sell for more?
Young 4-room flats in Toa Payoh West resold at a median $1,129 psf, 3% above Sennett's. Old 3-rooms there sold for $524 psf, against $499 in the rest of the town.
Over the 12 months to September 2026, Toa Payoh recorded 1,003 HDB resales. The town's median 4-room price was exactly $1,000,000, and 205 of 401 4-room resales were at $1 million or more. The median 3-room sold for $380,000, with a median of 46 years of lease left.
Splitting the town at 1 km from Caldecott station gives a muddled answer at first:
| Flat type | Where | Resales | Median price | Range | Median psf | Median lease left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-room | Within 1 km of Caldecott | 102 | $371,000 | $310,000 to $890,000 | $528 | 43 yrs |
| 3-room | Rest of Toa Payoh | 318 | $385,000 | $280,000 to $945,000 | $538 | 47 yrs |
| 4-room | Within 1 km of Caldecott | 99 | $968,000 | $460,000 to $1,215,000 | $1,048 | 82 yrs |
| 4-room | Rest of Toa Payoh | 302 | $1,012,500 | $410,000 to $1,368,000 | $1,019 | 93 yrs |
| 5-room | Within 1 km of Caldecott | 54 | $1,239,000 | $800,000 to $1,580,000 | $1,030 | 82 yrs |
| 5-room | Rest of Toa Payoh | 94 | $910,400 | $510,000 to $1,490,000 | $687 | 66 yrs |
PropKaki analysis of HDB resale registrations, October 2025 to September 2026. 'Within 1 km' is a straight line from the station.
The 4-room median near Caldecott is lower only because the flats are older; per square foot, it is higher. The fairer test is to hold the lease roughly constant. Among 4-room flats with 85 or more years left:
| Subzone | Nearest block to Caldecott | Resales | Median price | Range | Median psf | Median lease left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toa Payoh Central | 0.5 km | 10 | $1,117,500 | $1,050,000 to $1,215,000 | $1,141 | 85 yrs |
| Toa Payoh West | 0.3 km | 22 | $1,130,000 | $820,000 to $1,200,000 | $1,129 | 92 yrs |
| Sennett | 3.5 km | 161 | $1,100,000 | $900,000 to $1,368,000 | $1,098 | 94 yrs |
| Boon Teck | 1.8 km | 20 | $1,000,000 | $825,000 to $1,098,000 | $999 | 93 yrs |
| Joo Seng | 4.4 km | 8 | $919,000 | $895,000 to $953,000 | $918 | 90 yrs |
Subzones with at least five such sales. Bidadari's flats are still in their minimum occupation period and do not resell yet.
Young 4-room flats in Toa Payoh West sold at a median $1,129 psf, about 3% above Sennett's $1,098, with slightly less lease left. For old flats the gap is similar in spirit: 3-room flats with under 50 years left sold for a median $370,000 ($524 psf) in Toa Payoh West, against $355,000 ($499 psf) in the rest of the town, at about the same lease.
Our view: there is already a small Caldecott premium, and it comes from location, not from the plan. The masterplan was announced on 31 October, after every sale in these tables. Any reaction to it will only show in HDB's data from November onwards.
What do private homes near Caldecott cost?
Resale condos within about 1 km sold for $1,608 to $2,343 psf at the median, except old-lease Braddell View at $1,057. The Orie sold new at $2,713 psf.
The private homes closest to Caldecott are a small, mixed group: three freehold condos, a 2011 leasehold condo and two older leasehold projects. Over the same 12 months:
| Project | Distance | Tenure | Completed | Sale type | Sales | Median psf | psf range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomson 800 | 0.4 km | Freehold | 1999 | Resale | 11 | $2,050 | $1,969 to $2,215 |
| Braddell View | 0.5 km | 99-year | 1981 | Resale | 27 | $1,057 | $976 to $1,176 |
| Sky@Eleven | 0.7 km | Freehold | 2010 | Resale | 5 | $2,343 | $1,709 to $2,532 |
| Oleander Towers | 0.7 km | 99-year | 1997 | Resale | 12 | $1,608 | $1,429 to $1,650 |
| Trevista | 0.8 km | 99-year | 2011 | Resale | 15 | $2,082 | $1,728 to $2,300 |
| Trellis Towers | 0.9 km | Freehold | 2000 | Resale | 1 | $2,265 | $2,265 to $2,265 |
| The Orie | 1.2 km | 99-year | due 2028 | New sale | 25 | $2,713 | $2,633 to $2,840 |
PropKaki analysis of URA caveats, October 2025 to September 2026. The Orie, a 2025 launch at Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, is included as the newest private project nearby. Small samples.
Two things stand out. First, a young Toa Payoh West 4-room HDB flat, at $1,129 psf, sells for about 54% of Trevista's resale psf. The gap between public and private here is wide, which is typical of a mature town. Second, Braddell View is the outlier: an old-lease estate whose large units sell for about half the psf of its neighbours. Its owners have been trying for a collective sale, which we wrote about in October.
The plan's "some private housing" has not been sized or dated. Until it is, we would not read the 6,000 homes as a supply threat to these condos. If anything, a mall, a park and a better walk to the station are things their owners will use too.
How much new BTO housing has Toa Payoh had already?
Three Toa Payoh BTO projects with 3,240 flats since July 2025 in our record. Applicants per flat fell from 8.3 to 3.7 to 1.8.
Toa Payoh Hillside is not the town's first recent BTO. Our launch record, which starts in October 2024, holds three Toa Payoh projects with 3,240 flats between them:
| Exercise | Project | Class | Flats | Applicants per flat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | Toa Payoh Ascent | Prime | 741 | 8.3 |
| October 2025 | Mount Pleasant Crest | Prime | 1,348 | 3.7 |
| February 2026 | Kim Keat Crest | Plus | 1,151 | 1.8 |
PropKaki analysis of HDB launch releases and final application rates.
Demand is real but not bottomless. The rate fell with each launch, though each project had its own class, size and location. There is also a 193-flat shorter-wait block coming on a former carpark at Lorong 4 Toa Payoh, which we covered in August.
Our view: Hillside is a different product from the three above. A large share of its flats are 2-room Flexi, rental and community care apartments, so its application rates will not be a clean read on demand for family flats in Toa Payoh West. The later phases of the 6,000 homes will tell us more.
What does the masterplan mean for owners and buyers?
Amenities improve for everyone nearby, but lease still sets the price of old flats. Buyers get more choice over a decade, not all at once.
Reading the plan for different readers:
- Owners of old flats near Caldecott. A mall, a park and a wide walkway to the station make daily life easier, and that can support demand. But the old 3-room flats here have about 43 years of lease left at the median, and in our data the price gap with similar flats elsewhere in town is small. A masterplan does not add lease. Nothing announced so far changes what happens to these blocks.
- Buyers of resale flats. Toa Payoh West already sells young 4-room flats at a slight premium to the rest of the town. If you are paying it partly for the plan, remember that the mall and parks will arrive over years, not months, and the school is only being studied.
- BTO applicants. Over 6,000 homes over a decade means more chances in a central, mature town. Hillside comes first; HDB has not dated what follows.
- Families. The school is the part to watch. If a primary school is confirmed, it will matter for the primary one registration distance rules, which favour homes within 1 km and 2 km. HDB has not said what type of school it is.
- Seniors. Hillside will hold Toa Payoh's first community care apartments, the assisted-living flats whose minimum age has just been lowered to 55. Our July piece on that change explains who they suit.
This is opinion and general information, not advice on any purchase.
The honest catch: a plan, not a timetable
The 6,000 figure has no phasing, the boundary is our stand-in, distances are straight lines, and no sale after the announcement is in the data yet.
Four limits to keep in mind:
- It is a plan. Apart from Hillside, the 6,000 homes have no launch dates, mix or locations, and the private share is not sized. Residents are still being asked for views.
- Our boundary is a stand-in. HDB has not published the plan's outline. We use URA's Toa Payoh West subzone and a 1 km straight-line circle around Caldecott, which are not walking distances.
- Medians mix flats. A median blends age, floor, size and condition. Lease left drives most of the differences between areas, which is why we compare flats with similar leases. The young Toa Payoh West sample is 22 sales.
- Timing. Our data runs to September 2026. HDB's October registrations are still coming in, and nothing after the 31 October announcement is in it.
The main point holds anyway: the west side of Toa Payoh is one of the town's oldest corners, and this plan makes it the next place where the town is renewed.
How we sourced this
News facts from The Straits Times and Mothership; stock, resale and condo figures from PropKaki's analysis of HDB and URA records.
From the reporting: the 6,000 homes, the Hillside BTO and its size, the mall and its comparison with Woodleigh Mall, the 1.2ha wellness park, the green valley, the stepped heights, the 15m walkway, the school under study, the Toa Payoh Integrated Development and the minister's remarks come from The Straits Times of 1 November 2026 and Mothership of 2 November 2026, both reporting HDB's release and the minister's 31 October speech.
PropKaki's own data:
- Stock uses HDB's block records: residential blocks with at least one flat, rental flats included, grouped by the year each block was completed and weighted by flats, not blocks. In Toa Payoh, URA's planning area and HDB's town match block for block.
- Subzones are URA's. Distances are straight lines from Caldecott MRT's station point.
- HDB resale figures use resale registrations for Toa Payoh from October 2025 to September 2026, matched to blocks; every sale matched.
- Private figures use URA caveats for the same months, for the projects within about 1 km of Caldecott with sales, plus The Orie.
- BTO launches use HDB's launch releases and final application rates, from October 2024.
How we work: PropKaki methodology.
Sources
The Straits Times and Mothership reports, HDB block and resale records, URA caveats.
The news:
- The Straits Times: New mall, parks and plans for a new school under Toa Payoh West masterplan, 1 November 2026.
- Mothership: Plans for new development to form a 'second heart' for Toa Payoh: Chee Hong Tat, 2 November 2026.
Data: HDB's property information (block) dataset and resale flat prices, via data.gov.sg; URA private residential transactions; HDB BTO launch releases.
Further reading on PropKaki: Flats in the Million-Dollar Capital: HDB is building on a Toa Payoh carpark and JTC wants workshops above flats in Toa Payoh.
About this commentary
Commentary by the PropKaki Editorial Desk on reporting by The Straits Times and Mothership. Opinion and general information, not advice.
This is commentary by the PropKaki Editorial Desk on reporting by The Straits Times and Mothership. The plan's details and the minister's words belong to that reporting; the stock, resale and condo analysis, the framing and the opinions are ours.
It is opinion and general information, not financial or property advice, and not a valuation of any home. Plans can change after public feedback; check HDB's own materials before you decide anything.
Published 6 November 2026.
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