HDB pilots new open concept ‘white flats’ in October BTO exercise
Christine Sun, chief analyst & strategist at OrangeTee Group, mentions that such “white plan” approaches that offer homebuyers the option to customise the style of their units were available only in luxury private homes before.
According to the HDB, the non-provision of inside dividing wall surfaces for such white apartments will certainly be factored into the rates. Property buyers may opt into the new style when they are welcomed to book their level.
A good example is Far East Company’s Inessence label of ultra-luxury houses, for example, Alba, Blvd Vue and Skyline @ Orchard Blvd in the prime districts of Orchard Roadway. The “white plan” strategy permitted purchasers to customise their units.
Regardless of this, Sun predicts that any possible cost contrast would not be considerable as the construction of non-structural wall surfaces is cheaper.
For example, four-room flats nowadays have 3 rooms. Young partners with no young children yet may not need all three rooms currently. A white flat enables them to parting the area with home furniture or glass dividings. Later on, when they have children, the spot can be repurposed, and the bed rooms created, adds Lim.
“It lets the format of the HDB flat to be customised and re-configured as household wants alteration,” remarks Eugene Lim, primary executive officer at ERA Singapore.
Nonetheless, she adds in that the new layout may have a possible downside when offering the unit in the future as it may attract a smaller pool of buyers.
HDB will pilot a brand-new open idea layout in the October Built-To-Order (BTO) event, revealed Desmond Lee, Minister of National Development, at a keynote on May 27.
In contrast to occurring condos, these “white apartments” will definitely have contiguous living and room space without beams or dividers walls. The first set of such white apartments are going to be made available at the Kallang-Whampoa BTO plan, with 310 three- and four-room units.
“Public housing flats that feature the white scheme can be an original for some investors”, claims Sun.
He mentions that those who intend to revamp their brand-new level can even see cost benefits as they won’t need to have to break wall surfaces, unlike those buying the standard HDB apartments.
