Hdb Pilots New Open Concept White Flats October Bto Exercise
The Minister of National Development, Desmond Lee, recently announced that HDB will be piloting a new open-concept layout in the upcoming October Built-To-Order (BTO) exercise. This new type of flat, nicknamed “white flats”, will have a continuous living and bedroom space without any beams or partition walls. The first batch of white flats will be offered at the Kallang-Whampoa BTO project, which will consist of 310 three- and four-room units.
HDB has stated that the pricing for these white flats will factor in the absence of internal partition walls. Homebuyers will have the option to choose this new layout when they are invited to book their flat.
According to Eugene Lim, key executive officer at ERA Singapore, this new layout allows for more personalization and flexibility as household needs change over time. For example, young couples without children may not require all three bedrooms at the moment. With the white flat, they can use furniture or glass partitions to create separate spaces. In the future, when they have children, the space can be reconfigured to add the necessary bedrooms.
Lim also points out that the white flats may offer cost savings for those looking to renovate their unit, as they will not need to demolish walls like those in standard HDB flats.
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Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group, notes that the white plan concept, which gives homebuyers the option to customize the layout of their unit, was previously only available in luxury private homes. These include Far East Organization’s Inessence brand of ultra-luxury residences in prime districts such as Alba, Boulevard Vue, and Skyline @ Orchard Boulevard. With the white plan concept, buyers were able to personalize their own units.
Sun believes that these white flats may be a novelty for some buyers in the public housing market. However, she also points out that the new layout may have a potential drawback when it comes to selling the unit in the future, as it may appeal to a smaller pool of buyers.
Despite this potential drawback, Sun predicts that any difference in price would not be significant, as the construction of non-structural walls is less expensive. Interested buyers can check out the latest listings for HDB properties on the resale flat listing portal recently launched by HDB. In the first quarter of 2021, the HDB resale market saw its 16th consecutive quarterly price increase, with prices climbing 1.8% quarter-on-quarter. Additionally, million-dollar HDB resale flats also saw a surge of 32.8% quarter-on-quarter.