HDB pilots new open concept ‘white flats’ in October BTO exercise

Christine Sun, main investigator & strategist at OrangeTee Group, explains that such “white strategy” concepts that provide buyers the option to customise the layout of their units were offered only in high-end special homes before.

“Public housing apartments that feature the white plan can be a novelty for some investors”, says Sunlight.

In spite of this, Sun anticipates that any type of potential cost variation would certainly not be considerable as the design of non-structural walls is cheaper.

However, she adds that the brand-new format may have a possible drawback when offering the unit in the future as it can attract a smaller pool of homebuyers.

According to the HDB, the non-provision of inner dividing wall structures for such white condos will certainly be factored into the pricing. Homebuyers may choose right into the brand-new layout when they are invited to reserve their flat.

Lentor Hills Residences Guocoland, Hong Leong and TID Pte Ltd

“It lets the format of the HDB flat to be personalized and re-configured as household requires modification,” remarks Eugene Lim, major executive officer at ERA Singapore.

Compared to remaining condos, these “white flats” will definitely have contiguous living and bedroom spot without columns or dividers walls. The very first series of such white apartments will be presented at the Kallang-Whampoa BTO project, with 310 three- and four-room units.

He points out that those who want to remodel their brand-new flat could even see cost savings as they won’t need to dismantle walls, unlike those purchasing the standard HDB flats.

As an example, four-room flats nowadays have 3 rooms. Young pairs without kids yet might not want all three bed rooms now. A white flat lets them to parting the space with furniture pieces or glass partitions. Down the road, when they have children, the space can be repurposed, and the bedrooms put in, includes Lim.

An example is Far East Company’s Inessence label of ultra-luxury residences, such as Alba, Boulevard Vue and Skyline @ Orchard Blvd in the prime areas of Orchard Roadway. The “white plan” concept enabled customers to personalise their units.

HDB will pilot a new open concept format in the October Built-To-Order (BTO) event, revealed Desmond Lee, Minister of State Development, at a spiel on May 27.