HDB pilots new open concept ‘white flats’ in October BTO exercise
According to the HDB, the non-provision of inside partition wall surfaces for such white flats will be factored into the prices. Homebuyers may decide into the new design when they are invited to make a reservation for their level.
HDB is going to pilot a new open idea layout in the October Built-To-Order (BTO) activity, revealed Desmond Lee, Minister of Nationwide Development, at a spiel on May 27.
He mentions that those who intend to refurbish their new flat could even see expense savings as they will not need to dismantle partitions, unlike those acquiring the typical HDB apartments.
In contrast to occurring condos, these “white apartments” will have contiguous living and bed rooms area without beams or partition walls. The initial collection of such white flats will be made available at the Kallang-Whampoa BTO project, with 310 three- and four-room units.
An example is Far East Organization’s Inessence label of ultra-luxury homes, for example, Alba, Boulevard Vue and Skyline @ Orchard Boulevard in the prime neighborhoods of Orchard Roadway. The “white plan” idea enabled buyers to personalise their units.
Regardless of this, Sun forecasts that any potential rate variation would certainly not be considerable as the construction of non-structural wall surfaces is less expensive.
Nonetheless, she adds that the new layout might have a potential drawback when offering the unit in the future as it can interest a smaller pool of homebuyers.
“It allows the format of the HDB flat to be customised and re-configured as household wants alteration,” remarks Eugene Lim, major executive officer at ERA Singapore.
“Public housing apartments that come with the white scheme can be a surprise for some buyers”, claims Sunlight.
Christine Sun, primary analyst & strategist at OrangeTee Group, mentions that such “white scheme” ideas that provide property buyers the possibility to personalize the design of their units were offered only in luxury private homes prior to.
For example, four-room flats today have 3 bedrooms. Young pairs without any kids yet might not need all three rooms currently. A white flat enables them to dividing the room with furniture pieces or glass dividers. Later on, when they have youngsters, the spot could be repurposed, and the rooms put in, includes Lim.
