Types of Singapore Property

Housing Development Board (Government Housing)

The HDB flat is the most affordable (due to governmental subsidies) public housing 80% of locals live in. Modern and clean, this dwelling solution appeared to cater for the needs of Singaporeans with modest incomes who cannot afford private housing. Such flats come in different sizes:

• Studio: stylish one-bedroom flat (36 or 45 m²) designed for elderly Singaporeans who prefer living separately; it is equipped with support bars and pull-for-help devices everywhere.
• 2-room (45 m²): reminds a studio, but is much cheaper; fits small families.
• 3-room (65 m²): has 2 bedrooms (with an additional bathroom attached to the parents’ bedroom); fits families with one child.
• 4-room (90 m²): contains 2 bedrooms for kids with common bathroom and the parents’ bedroom with own bathroom.
• 5-room (110 m²): contains additional dining space.
• 3 Gen flats (115 m²): specially developed for families that contain 3 generations living under one roof; the apartment has one more bedroom and one more bathroom.
• Executive apartments (130 m²): has a balcony and additional space that can be used for studying or as an additional TV corner.
• DBSS (Design, Build, and Sell Scheme) apartments: the premium version that is something between a bigger flat and an executive condo.

Public & Private Mix

Want advantages of private housing but to stay on the public territory? Singapore has dwelling options that are something between a public and a private housing:

• Housing and Urban Development Company flats (HUDC) started to rise in the 70s and 80s as public housing, but today most of such estates are privatized.
• Executive condos are options for young and well-paid professionals who can afford more than just an HDB flat but don’t want to mess with landed properties. Executive condos have lots of design features and facilities common for the private housing but still remain cheaper thanks to the HDB. Nevertheless, executive condos have lots of restrictions: the apartment turns into your private property only after you have lived in such public housing apartment for 5 years: now you can sell it on the market to the locals. To be allowed to sell it to foreigners, the property must undergo privatization during the next 5 years. Such executive condominiums aren’t freehold and have a long 99-year leasehold period.

Private Housing

Singapore attracted lots of money within the past decades, but as the land is a very limited resource (the country is tiny!), prices for private property have always been very high (with today’s tangible growing trend). The land deficiency made Singapore develop diverse forms of the private housing. Let’s overview the main two: condos (condominiums) and landed properties.

• Condos are huge and luxury apartments that have similar features with executive condominiums but are free from restrictions as they are designed as private housing options. Condos fit young and well-paid people who still cannot afford landed property or find its maintenance too labour-intensive. In condos, you can get all facilities most private houses are equipped with (swimming pools, gyms, tennis courts, and gardens), and you don’t have to mess with maintaining them. Condos are quite expensive options to buy; however, for foreigners working in SG and wishing to live on their own property, it is the only option for purchase.
• Apartments are cheaper brothers of condominiums. They are located in smaller buildings that have a much more modest set of facilities than condos, and, therefore, they are cheaper than condos. In comparison with government-subsidized HDB flats, apartments are more costly options.
• Walk-up apartments are actually apartments or condos that are located in low buildings that aren’t equipped with lifts. Being usually of 3 to 5 storeys, such apartments won’t exhaust you when you climb upstairs.
• Landed Property is the quintessence of privacy, freedom, and prestige of being on the top of country’s social ladder. Such property requires investments of time and money in its maintenance, but its spacious forms and unlimited opportunities in remodelling and rebuilding are beyond comparison. Landed properties have lots of types available in SG:

1. 1. Terrace houses are a row of similar houses which share the same boundary.
   2. Shophouses are renovated and conserved terrace houses that have historical importance. These 2-3-storey houses are the heritage of traditional European, Chinese, and Malay architectures that were authentically mixed in Singapore for a long time. Traditional shophouses can be found in such districts as Chinatown, Little India, and so on.
   3. Bungalows are absolutely detached private houses with the minimum square of 400 m². They divide into classes depending on the size of land such properties occupy. Bungalows having more than 1400 m² are called “Good Class Bungalow”. They are usually packed with pools, private cinemas, luxury gardens, tennis courts, and other bling. Taking into account such waste of space in tiny Singapore, in the whole country, there are approximately a thousand of such properties.
   4. Semi-detached houses are actually separate properties that have mutual walls with other similar units (are attached to them).
   5. Townhouses are something between condos and landed properties: they are designed as terrace houses but share mutual recreational facilities with other units. This way, you get your privacy and spacious accommodation and save lots of time and money on maintenance of these facilities.
   6. Cluster houses are a form of dwelling that can join several private houses (terrace/semi-detached houses or bungalows) with mutual condo-inspired facilities. Benefits are obvious: you save your privacy and space and don’t have to mess with maintaining facilities.