Dorset Gardens: city-fringe land that cost less than three suburban sites.

Dorset Gardens is the new 425-home condo on Dorset Road in Farrer Park, District 8. It is being built by UOL Group, Singapore Land Group and Kheng Leong, who won the state land tender in October 2025 at $1,338 psf ppr. That is less per square foot of buildable space than three suburban sites sold since 2025, for a site about 340m from Farrer Park MRT.

A cheap-looking land price does not make a cheap condo, though. Below, we turn the land cost into a launch estimate and test it against school ballots, nearby amenities and resale prices. The live estimate sits on our Dorset Gardens project page.

How we checked this

The land price, site area and floor area come from URA's tender award notice of 16 October 2025. We did the main sum ourselves. URA gives $14,405.06 per square metre of floor area. Divide by 10.7639 square feet per square metre and you get $1,338 psf ppr. The floor area of 36,397 sq m on a 10,399 sq m site also gives a plot ratio of 3.5.

The name, unit count, blocks, timing and consultants come from the developer's appointed sales team, 2 October 2026. Costs come from our cost model, school figures from MOE's 2025 and 2026 Primary 1 results, and distances from OneMap map data, in straight lines. Resale figures match each sale in URA caveat data to the earlier purchase of the same home, losses included.

What do we know about Dorset Gardens so far?

Enough to price the land, not a unit. The unit mix, floor plans and price list come at preview.

The site allows 391,775 sq ft of floor space. Spread over 425 homes, that is about 922 sq ft each, before lobbies and corridors are taken out. So expect mostly two- and three-bedroom homes rather than a project full of studios. Earlier reports of 428 homes in two 27-storey towers came from the tender stage and are now out of date.

Where to get official details: interested buyers should visit the Dorset Gardens appointed developer sales website to register interest, get the latest e-brochure and book a showflat viewing. Floor plans and the price list will be released there first.

Is Dorset Gardens' land really cheaper than suburban sites?

Cheaper than some of them, yes. The sales team describes the land cost as "lower than OCR". The table tests that against every private-housing state site sold in the city fringe and the suburbs since January 2025.

Three suburban sites cost more: the first Chuan Grove plot in Serangoon ($1,376), Bayshore Road ($1,388) and New Upper Changi Road in Bedok ($1,537). So the claim is true for those three. It is not true for the suburbs as a whole. Twelve of the fifteen suburban sites in the table sold for less.

The fairer comparison is with other city-fringe land. Of the four city-fringe sites sold after Dorset Road, three cost more: Kallang Close by 6%, Tanjong Rhu Road by 9% and Dover Drive by 16%. Only Telok Blangah Road, a month later, came in slightly lower. In plain terms, UOL's group bought before this part of the market moved up. A developer starting a nearby project in 2026 would likely carry a higher land bill.

The bidding was close. EdgeProp reported the second bid, from a five-company group including Roxy-Pacific and Wee Hur, at $1,324 psf ppr, just 1.0% lower. Hoi Hup came third at $1,315. CBRE noted that the top six bids sat within 10% of each other. So the price looks like a market rate, not one buyer overreaching.

What launch price does $1,338 psf ppr imply?

Land is only part of the bill. Our model adds the other costs.

Divide $966.1 million by 391,775 sq ft and the breakeven is about $2,466 psf ppr. We add the 15% to 30% margin band that we measured across 42 launched projects. That gives an indicative range of $2,840 to $3,210 psf (est.). Part of that margin is not profit. It covers the gap between the floor area a developer pays for and the smaller area it can sell.

A second method points the same way. Recent 99-year launches on city-fringe state land have sold at 2.0 to 2.5 times what their land cost, as the next table shows.

Applied to $1,338, those multiples give about $2,690 to $3,400 psf. The middle of that spread, around 2.4 times, lands near $3,200, at the top of our range. Analysts were more cautious when the tender closed. CBRE suggested $2,700 to $2,800 psf and ERA $2,650 to $2,750. Those figures match the lowest multiple in the table, The Orie's. All of these are estimates, and none is developer-confirmed.

How does that compare with Farrer Park resale prices?

It sits above them. The table covers the private homes within about 1.4km that have resold in the past two years.

Piccadilly Grand is the closest match. It is a 99-year condo one stop away, finished in 2025, and its owners have resold at a median of $2,463 psf. That figure uses the older way of counting floor area, which included some spaces now excluded. Restated on today's basis, it is worth roughly $2,620 psf. Our Dorset Gardens range starts about 8% above that and runs to about 23% above.

The good news is in the other columns. Of 2,454 recorded resales across these eight projects, 2,412 made money; the biggest cluster of losses is at Cityscape @ Farrer Park, 18 of 67. The large yearly returns come from older homes bought cheaply long ago. A buyer in 2027 should not expect those.

Which primary schools are near Dorset Gardens, and who gets in?

Three within 1km and four more within about 2km, on our straight-line estimates. The table shows the Phase 2C results for both recent years.

The last column tells you who had to ballot. SJI Junior is the standout for this site. In both 2025 and 2026 its Phase 2C ballot was held among citizens living 1–2km away, which means every citizen applicant within 1km got a place without one. Dorset Gardens is about 0.88km away on our estimate, so it sits inside that band, if only just.

Hong Wen is harder to get into. It balloted among citizens within 1km in both years, with 121 applicants for 60 places in 2026. Living nearby puts a child in the draw; it does not win it.

The two ACS schools are further out. ACS (Junior), at about 1.5km, balloted within 1km both years, so families 1–2km away did not reach its Phase 2C draw. ACS (Primary) sits right on the 2km line in our data. Its 2026 ballot was for citizens beyond 2km, so everyone closer got in, but in 2025 it balloted within 1km. St. Margaret’s balloted narrowly in 2026, with 122 applicants for 117 places.

Ballot results change from year to year, and MOE measures distance in its own way, so check on MOE SchoolFinder or OneMap's school query before you rely on any figure here. Our study of school demand and new launches explains how these ratios move.

What is within walking distance today?

Almost everything a household uses each week, and an unusual amount of healthcare.

Rail is the other strength. Little India, one stop away, adds the Downtown Line; Dhoby Ghaut, two stops away, adds the North South and Circle Lines. All already run. The CBD is about 3.1km away in a straight line.

The gap is green space. The nearest large park in our dataset is Fort Canning Park, about 2.2km away. The sports centre planned on the old Farrer Park Field next door, announced in April 2022 with about 1,600 new flats, will be the nearest new open space.

What stands in its favour?

• A land cost later launches will struggle to match. Three of the four city-fringe sites sold since cost 6% to 16% more.
• Rail depth with no waiting. Three lines within two stops, all running for two decades or more.
• A strong school position for boys at SJI Junior. Citizens within 1km were placed at Phase 2C in both 2025 and 2026.
• A clean local resale record. 2,412 of 2,454 recorded resales in the eight nearby projects made money, including all 33 at Piccadilly Grand.
• Healthcare on the doorstep. Three hospitals and a polyclinic within about 1km, which also supports rental demand from medical staff.

What could go wrong?

• A premium over resale. At $2,840 psf or more (est.), buyers pay 8% to 23% above Piccadilly Grand's restated resale price. That premium buys a fresh lease and a new building, not a discount.
• A large cash outlay. A 950 sq ft three-bedroom at our range costs about $2.70 million to $3.05 million (est.). The 25% down payment on a first loan is $675,000 to $763,000, plus Buyer’s Stamp Duty of about $104,600 to $122,600.
• A thin rental yield. Piccadilly Grand rents average about $6.75 psf a month across 179 lodged contracts. At our range, that is a gross yield of about 2.5% to 2.9% (est.), before tax, fees and empty months.
• More supply nearby. URA placed a Kitchener Link site near Farrer Park MRT on its Reserve List in June 2026. It could add about 145 homes if a developer applies for it.
• Seller's Stamp Duty past completion. A buyer at the 2027 preview would still owe it on a sale at TOP in 2030. It applies for four years from purchase.

Our affordability calculator, stamp duty calculator and progressive payment calculator show how the cash works stage by stage.

The short version

So what should you do with this?

• Plan around $2,840 to $3,210 psf for now, and compare the price list with about $2,620 psf, Piccadilly Grand's restated resale price.
• If schools matter, check your child's specific school on MOE SchoolFinder once the address is final. SJI Junior and Hong Wen behave very differently at ballot.
• Get a bank's in-principle approval before preview, and register on the official Dorset Gardens sales website for the e-brochure and a showflat slot.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & methodology

The land price, site area and floor area are from URA's tender closing notice of 9 October 2025 and award notice of 16 October 2025. The second and third bids and the joint-venture shares are as reported by EdgeProp; CBRE's launch estimate and bid spread are from its tender commentary, and ERA's from its site analysis. The Kitchener Link site is from URA's release of 25 June 2026. The project name, unit count, blocks, timing and consultants are from the developer's appointed sales team, 2 October 2026.

The cost breakdown and breakeven are our own estimates from the PropertyInsider.sg cost model, explained in our pricing methodology. Earlier land prices are from our land cost tracker. School results are MOE Primary 1 registration figures compiled in our schools dataset. Resale and rent figures are our own compilation of URA caveat data and lodged rental contracts, also mapped on our resale returns map. Amenity distances use the same straight-line and walking model as our project pages. The wider pipeline is in our GLS pipeline tracker.

See the full Dorset Gardens project page