HDB pilots new open concept ‘white flats’ in October BTO exercise
According to the HDB, the non-provision of inner partition walls for such white apartments will definitely be factored into the prices. Homebuyers might opt into the brand-new arrangement when they are invited to book their level.
HDB is going to pilot a brand-new open idea format in the October Built-To-Order (BTO) activity, announced Desmond Lee, Minister of Nationwide Development, at a spiel on May 27.
Christine Sun, main researcher & strategist at OrangeTee Group, points out that such “white scheme” approaches that give buyers the choice to customise the design of their units were offered just in luxury private homes before.
Lentor Mansion condo floor plan
An example is Far East Organization’s Inessence label of ultra-luxury homes, like Alba, Boulevard Vue and Skyline @ Orchard Blvd in the prime areas of Orchard Road. The “white plan” concept enabled purchasers to personalise their units.
In contrast to occurring condos, these “white condos” are going to have contiguous living and room space without columns or parting wall surfaces. The first series of such white apartments will be featured at the Kallang-Whampoa BTO venture, with 310 three- and four-room units.
In spite of this, Sun anticipates that any potential cost contrast would certainly not be considerable as the design of non-structural dividers is more economical.
He mentions that those who want to refurbish their new flat could even see price savings as they will not need to have to demolish partitions, unlike those buying the conventional HDB flats.
“Public housing flats that come with the white scheme can be a surprise for some buyers”, claims Sunlight.
“It lets the design of the HDB flat to be tailor-maked and re-configured as household wants modification,” remarks Eugene Lim, major executive officer at ERA Singapore.
Nonetheless, she adds that the brand-new format might have a potential disadvantage when offering the unit in the future as it can appeal to a smaller pool of investors.
For example, four-room apartments nowadays have three rooms. Young couples with no kids yet may not need all three bedrooms currently. A white flat allows them to parting the room with furniture or glass dividings. Down the road, when they have children, the space could be repurposed, and the rooms added, includes Lim.