HDB pilots new open concept ‘white flats’ in October BTO exercise
According to the HDB, the non-provision of internal dividers wall structures for such white apartments will certainly be factored right into the pricing. Property buyers might opt into the new arrangement when they are welcomed to book their flat.
Compared to occurring condos, these “white apartments” will definitely have contiguous living and bedroom spot without beams or dividers walls. The first series of such white apartments will be made available at the Kallang-Whampoa BTO venture, with 310 three- and four-room units.
For example, four-room flats nowadays have three bed rooms. Young pairs without any kids yet may not require all 3 rooms now. A white flat lets them to dividing the space with home furniture or glass dividers. In the future, when they have children, the area can be repurposed, and the bedrooms created, adds Lim.
“It lets the layout of the HDB flat to be personalized and re-configured as household may need change,” remarks Eugene Lim, primary executive officer at ERA Singapore.
A good example is Far East Company’s Inessence brand of ultra-luxury residences, such as Alba, Blvd Vue and Skyline @ Orchard Boulevard in the prime areas of Orchard Roadway. The “white plan” strategy permitted customers to personalise their units.
HDB will pilot a new open concept format in the October Built-To-Order (BTO) activity, declared Desmond Lee, Minister of Nationwide Development, at a speech on May 27.
He explains that those who wish to renovate their new flat could also see price savings as they will not need to dismantle partitions, unlike those acquiring the standard HDB apartments.
Christine Sun, main researcher & strategist at OrangeTee Group, mentions that such “white scheme” approaches that offer property buyers the option to personalize the design of their units were available just in upscale special homes prior to.
Nonetheless, she includes that the brand-new format may have a potential disadvantage when offering the unit in the future as it can interest a smaller pool of buyers.
In spite of this, Sun anticipates that any type of possible rate variation would not be significant as the building of non-structural wall structures is more economical.
“Public housing flats that come with the white scheme can be a novelty for some prospective buyers”, says Sun.
