HDB pilots new open concept ‘white flats’ in October BTO exercise
HDB is going to pilot a new open concept layout in the October Built-To-Order (BTO) activity, revealed Desmond Lee, Minister of National Development, at a keynote on May 27.
As an example, four-room apartments nowadays have 3 bed rooms. Young couples without kids yet may not require all three bed rooms now. A white flat allows them to dividing the room with home furniture or glass dividings. In the future, when they have kids, the area could be repurposed, and the rooms created, includes Lim.
Christine Sun, chief researcher & strategist at OrangeTee Group, explains that such “white plan” approaches that offer buyers the choice to personalize the style of their units were available only in upscale exclusive homes before.
In contrast to occurring apartments, these “white apartments” are going to have contiguous living and room area without beams or parting walls. The initial series of such white apartments will be featured at the Kallang-Whampoa BTO project, with 310 three- and four-room units.
Despite this, Sun forecasts that any type of possible price contrast would not be considerable as the construction of non-structural wall structures is less expensive.
An example is Far East Organization’s Inessence brand of ultra-luxury homes, such as Alba, Blvd Vue and Skyline @ Orchard Boulevard in the prime communities of Orchard Roadway. The “white plan” concept enabled purchasers to personalise their units.
Nonetheless, she adds in that the brand-new format might have a potential drawback when offering the unit in the future as it can interest a smaller pool of homebuyers.
“Public housing apartments that provide the white plan can be an original for some investors”, states Sunlight.
“It gives the layout of the HDB flat to be customised and re-configured as family requires modification,” comments Eugene Lim, key executive officer at ERA Singapore.
According to the HDB, the non-provision of internal dividers walls for such white condos will be factored into the prices. Homebuyers may opt into the new arrangement when they are welcomed to reserve their flat.
He mentions that those who wish to renovate their new level can also see expense reductions as they won’t need to dismantle walls, unlike those purchasing the standard HDB flats.
