HDB pilots new open concept ‘white flats’ in October BTO exercise
HDB will pilot a brand-new open concept design in the October Built-To-Order (BTO) event, declared Desmond Lee, Minister of National Development, at a speech on May 27.
Unlike remaining apartments, these “white condos” will have contiguous living and bedroom area without beams or parting wall surfaces. The very first collection of such white apartments are going to be presented at the Kallang-Whampoa BTO project, with 310 three- and four-room units.
He mentions that those who want to remodel their new level could also see cost reductions as they will not need to have to demolish walls, unlike those buying the conventional HDB flats.
“It allows the layout of the HDB flat to be customised and re-configured as household requires modification,” remarks Eugene Lim, major executive officer at ERA Singapore.
“Public housing flats that come with the white plan can be a surprise for some investors”, states Sun.
According to the HDB, the non-provision of internal dividers wall surfaces for such white condos will be factored right into the prices. Homebuyers might decide right into the brand-new design when they are welcomed to book their flat.
For example, four-room flats nowadays have 3 rooms. Young partners without kids yet might not want all 3 bedrooms now. A white flat lets them to partition the area with furniture pieces or glass partitions. In the future, when they have kids, the area can be repurposed, and the bed rooms created, adds Lim.
Despite this, Sun forecasts that any type of possible price difference would not be substantial as the construction of non-structural wall structures is more economical.
However, she adds that the brand-new layout may have a potential disadvantage when offering the unit in the future as it can interest a smaller pool of homebuyers.
Christine Sun, primary researcher & strategist at OrangeTee Group, explains that such “white plan” concepts that give homebuyers the choice to personalize the style of their units were available just in luxury special homes before.
A good example is Far East Organization’s Inessence brand of ultra-luxury houses, for example, Alba, Blvd Vue and Skyline @ Orchard Boulevard in the prime areas of Orchard Roadway. The “white plan” strategy enabled customers to customise their units.
