HDB pilots new open concept ‘white flats’ in October BTO exercise
HDB is going to pilot a new open idea format in the October Built-To-Order (BTO) activity, declared Desmond Lee, Minister of State Development, at a keynote on May 27.
Christine Sun, primary researcher & strategist at OrangeTee Group, explains that such “white plan” concepts that give property buyers the choice to customise the layout of their units were available just in high-end special homes before.
According to the HDB, the non-provision of inner partition wall structures for such white apartments will be factored right into the prices. Property buyers might choose right into the new arrangement when they are welcomed to make a reservation for their flat.
He mentions that those who wish to remodel their brand-new flat might also see expense benefits as they will not require to demolish wall surfaces, unlike those acquiring the common HDB apartments.
“Public housing apartments that provide the white plan can be an original for some buyers”, claims Sun.
Unlike occurring apartments, these “white flats” will definitely have contiguous living and bed rooms space without columns or partition walls. The first collection of such white apartments are going to be offered at the Kallang-Whampoa BTO venture, with 310 three- and four-room units.
An example is Far East Company’s Inessence brand of ultra-luxury houses, for example, Alba, Blvd Vue and Skyline @ Orchard Blvd in the prime districts of Orchard Roadway. The “white plan” concept permitted buyers to personalise their units.
Despite this, Sun predicts that any type of potential cost variation would certainly not be considerable as the building of non-structural wall structures is cheaper.
“It gives the format of the HDB flat to be tailor-maked and re-configured as family wants modification,” remarks Eugene Lim, primary executive officer at ERA Singapore.
For instance, four-room apartments nowadays have 3 bed rooms. Young couples without young children yet might not need all three bedrooms currently. A white flat lets them to partition the room with furniture or glass dividers. Down the road, when they have children, the space could be repurposed, and the bedrooms created, adds Lim.
Nevertheless, she adds in that the brand-new format might have a potential downside when selling the unit in the future as it can interest a smaller pool of buyers.
