Chencharu Town and Khatib: The New Neighbourhood Around Chencharu Central Residences

Chencharu is the newest housing area in Yishun, and Chencharu Central Residences sits at its centre. HDB unveiled the masterplan on 12 June 2024 for a 70-hectare town bounded by Yishun Avenue 1, Yishun Avenue 2 and Sembawang Road, beside Khatib MRT station.

A New Town for Chencharu Central Residences to Anchor

HDB plans about 10,000 new homes in Chencharu by 2040, with at least 80% of them public flats. The land was plantations and farms in the early 1900s, became part of the Yishun New Town project from 1976, and has been earmarked for housing since the 2019 Master Plan. Until recently it held horticulture companies, hydroponic farms and ornamental fish exporters, which gives the area its green, low-rise character today.

The first Build-To-Order project in Chencharu, of about 1,270 flats from 2-room Flexi to 5-room, was launched in June 2024, and further projects follow progressively. The private homes of Chencharu Central Residences are planned on the first mixed-use site of the town.

The Masterplan Theme Around Chencharu Central Residences

HDB’s theme for the town is “A Vibrant Village, Connecting Communities and Heritage”. A colonial-era bungalow at 50 Bah Soon Pah Road, built around the early 1910s as a plantation house, is to be adapted for community use inside a new park, alongside a heritage trail with gardens and storyboards. Wayfinding icons drawn from the pineapple and the mackerel recall the farming and fishing past of the area, and the park adds playgrounds, fitness corners, open lawns, hard courts and a therapeutic garden.

The Community Avenue and the Hub at Chencharu Central Residences

A new east-west avenue links the heritage park in the west to the neighbourhood park near Khatib station in the east. Along it sits the integrated development that includes Chencharu Central Residences, with the bus interchange, the hawker centre and the shops that serve the whole town. Chencharu Link, a 400-metre north-south road through the centre of the estate, is planned as a bus-only corridor, and new walking and cycling paths lined with kampung trees such as the Island Lychee and Hopea connect to Sembawang, Khatib Bongsu, Lower Seletar Reservoir and the future North-South Corridor.

Living in Chencharu at Chencharu Central Residences

HDB also plans a new educational institution and a nursing home in Chencharu, and homes across the town are oriented north-south to cut heat gain and improve natural ventilation. Existing neighbours such as HomeTeamNS Khatib and the Khatib Central neighbourhood centre are woven into the plan. For residents of Chencharu Central Residences, the result is a new town whose bus interchange, food centre and shops are on their doorstep from the start, with Khatib station a short walk away. The Khatib MRT guide covers the transport links.