Govt caps number of homes that can be built in each non-landed development outside central area
By Yasmine Yahya, The Straits Times, 5 Sep 2012
THE Government has unveiled a new policy to discourage the fast-rising number of tiny "shoebox" homes being built outside the central city area.
It is placing a cap on the number of homes that can be built at each private non-landed development outside this area. The central area is unaffected.
But an even tighter cap, already in place in Telok Kurau, is being extended to Kovan, Joo Chiat and Jalan Eunos.
The new guidelines aimed at curbing the number of shoebox units - typically less than 50 sq m - will take effect on Nov 4.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) noted yesterday that the stock of completed shoebox units will have surged by four times, from about 2,400 at the end of last year to about 11,000, by the end of 2015.
This trend has raised concerns, especially in suburban areas where larger households and families typically live and where the demand for shoebox units remains untested, the URA said.
Singapore should have some shoebox units to cater to singles, retirees and couples without children, but these homes should not form a disproportionately large share of housing stock, it added.
"Increasingly we are seeing some new housing developments consisting predominantly of shoebox units - as high as 50 per cent to 80 per cent," the URA said.
"A large concentration of such developments can strain the local road infrastructure as the number of housing units ends up much higher than what was originally planned for."
In recent years, blocks of flats have even been built on the site of a single landed home. Residents have faced traffic congestion and double parking as a result of overcrowding.
The maximum number of units that can be built is obtained by multiplying the development site area by its Master Plan allowable gross plot ratio, and then dividing that by 70 sq m. This works out to an average unit size of 70 sq m. URA said the size is comparable to the average gross floor area of a 3-room HDB flat.
For the affected areas of Kovan and Eunos, the maximum number of units uses the same formula but dividing by 100 sq m.
While many had expected URA to introduce a minimum size for units, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on his blog yesterday that the URA wanted to restrict the over-development of tiny homes without over-regulating or stifling the creativity of developers.
Instead of a minimum size, "URA chose to limit the maximum number of apartments that developers can propose in a particular development...
"This way, developers are still free to build small apartments if there is demand, but there must be a good mixture of large and small units, in order to meet the URA guidelines," Mr Khaw said.
Property consultant Ong Kah Seng thinks "the impact on prices of private homes will likely be minimal, in the short term. Demand for family-sized units will remain stable."
Kovan resident Mark Thio, 49, welcomed the move. "With more apartments, you get more people and cars. When traffic gets congested and people don't give way, they end up quarrelling."
Managing director Lim Yew Soon of EL Development - which is developing SkySuites 17 at Balestier where small units form 40 per cent of the total - welcomed the guidelines.
"So now that the guidelines are clear to everyone, I think we can be more creative about the mix of units we can design and build," he said.
Shoebox relief
Cap on number of units in condos outside central area seen as solution to congestion
By Amanda Tan, The Straits Times, 5 Sep 2012
Cap on number of units in condos outside central area seen as solution to congestion
By Amanda Tan, The Straits Times, 5 Sep 2012
RESIDENTS in some congested estates cheered yesterday's move that puts a cap on the number of units allowed in condominiums outside the central region.
They feel the ruling might go some way to easing the strains being placed on local infrastructure by too many cars and people.
Kovan Road resident Koh Lok Phong, 62, said fewer homes would be a reprieve for vehicle owners who have long suffered a lack of parking space due to an increase in the number of homes.
"Every time a new condo is built, it adds so many more homes... there's not enough parking space," the retiree said, noting that the situation has worsened in the past three or four years.
Her home faces a row of projects including Kovan Apartments and Water Villas.
The new rules stipulate that the maximum number of units that can be built in a non-landed development is obtained by multiplying the development site area by its Master Plan allowable gross plot ratio, and then dividing that by 70 sq m. This works out to an average unit size of 70 sq m.
For severely congested areas - such as Telok Kurau, Kovan, Joo Chiat and Jalan Eunos - the maximum number of homes that can be built is based on an average unit size of 100 sq m.
Madam Koh's neighbour, property agent Grace Tan, 49, called the move a "good change". She also had a gripe about the cars that often honk noisily when the road outside her house is jammed.
Mrs Tan, who has lived in Kovan Road for about a decade, said the area seems to be more built-up with more cars and people.
Property industry experts were more mixed about the ruling to curb the total number of homes that can be built on non-landed private sites outside the central area from Nov 4.
Already-crowded estates like Kovan face an even more stringent cap, similar to the one imposed on Telok Kurau last year.
The aim is to ensure that housing projects do not consist mainly of small apartments. There are no minimum sizes for units under the new rules, but a developer who allocates too many of the allowednumber of units to shoebox units will be under-utilising the space - a commercial own goal.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said some new housing developments consist predominantly of shoebox units - defined as about 500 sq ft or less.
Natura@Hillview and Nottinghill Suites are two such projects.
The URA noted that the number of completed shoebox flats would reach about 11,000 units by the end of 2015, compared with 2,400 at the end of last year - a trend that has "raised some concerns".
It noted that having more homes than originally planned can put strains on infrastructure.
R'ST Research director Ong Kah Seng called the rules "timely", even though second-quarter developer sales figures showed shoebox sales have moderated.
He said the move could benefit unlaunched or unsold shoebox units and existing owners once such units become scarce and prices creep up.
But Knight Frank research head Png Poh Soon said the rule would affect developments at smaller sites that are now at the design planning stage. "Developers who have priced these sites with the assumption of higher proportion of smaller units to be built at higher per sq ft prices would have to readjust their unit mix and pricing strategies to meet their break- even costs," he said.
But he expects minimal impact on large residential sites on the government land sales programme.
A CapitaLand Residential Singapore spokesman said: "We strive to ensure all our developments offer sustainable and quality lifestyles to our home buyers... we do not foresee any issues in complying with the latest guideline."
Mr Elson Poo, general manager of sales and marketing at Frasers Centrepoint Homes, said it does not foresee the measure having any significant impact on its business or plans: "Frasers has always offered a range of unit sizes to cater to the diverse needs of all segments. Shoebox units... usually form only a small proportion of our overall development."
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