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Average home sizes shrink
With the development of shoebox apartments and a bigger proportion of smaller units in condo developments, the average size of non-landed homes used to estimate housing supply in the GLS Programme has shrunk.
To arrive at the average size for every home assumed, The Business Times chose sites by location and then divided each of their gross floor area (GFA) by the number of potential homes estimated by the government for every site.
BT said a change in the average home size was initially introduced for sites located in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) in the 2H2010 GLS Programme and extended to include the Outside Central Region (OCR) in the 1H2011 Programme.
Based on BT’s comparison, the average size per home for non-landed residential sites fell from around 110 sq m in the 1H2010 GLS Programme to about 100 sq m in the 2H2010 Programme and 90 sq m in the 1H2011 for residential sites in the RCR, which includes Alexandra Road, Stirling Road and Bishan.
Meanwhile, for sites in the OCR, where suburban condo developments are located, the average housing unit size did not change until the 1H2011 programme.
A spokesperson for the URA said it “regularly reviews the space standards, that is, gross floor area per housing unit, used to estimate the number of housing units that can be generated from GLS sites for residential developments . . . The review takes into account the size of residential units in housing projects which have obtained planning approval.”
“The space standards, which vary for different locations, are used as a guide only. The actual number of residential units on the GLS sites will depend on the actual development plans of the developers.”
Market watchers noted that a series of projects with a large number of shoebox units started in RCR locations such as the Guillemard area, Alexandra Road and Rangoon Road. Since then, shoebox units have appeared in other locations including Eunos and Kembangan, which are categorised OCR, and spread to the Core Central Region (CCR) like Killiney and River Valley.
Joseph Tan, executive director of CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), said the proportion of units below 1,000 sq ft has increased lately even in more mainstream condo developments. “In city-fringe locations, particularly near MRT stations, up to 50-60 percent of units could be below 1,000 sq ft and the proportion could be even higher in some projects in the CBD,” said Mr. Tan.
Enjoy your spacious home... soon only the very rich can afford to live like you.
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