SINGAPORE, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Singapore took steps on
Tuesday to ensure developers build apartments of different sizes
rather than just tiny “shoebox” units, addressing complaints
about the shrinking size of accommodation on a small island with
big land constraints.
From Nov. 4, apartments in new suburban condominium projects
must have an average floor area of 70 square metres (753 square
feet) — a rule that will prevent developers from building whole
blocks of shoebox units as small as 30 square metres.
Shoebox units, which can be the size of three parking lot
spaces, have been popular with investors because of lower
selling prices but they tend to be more expensive than other
apartments on a per square metre basis.
“The new guidelines will discourage new developments
consisting predominantly of ‘shoebox’ units outside the central
area, but at the same time give flexibility to developers to
offer a range of homes of different sizes,” the Urban
Redevelopment Authority (URA) said in a statement.
“A large concentration of such (shoebox) developments can
strain the local road infrastructure as the number of housing
units ends up much higher than what was originally planned for.”
Anger has been flaring in Singapore, a trade and finance
centre, over rising prices, an influx of foreigners and
worsening congestion on a land-scarce island.
The city-state’s housing minister warned earlier this year
that the government was concerned about “pockets of hot
activity” in the housing market, citing shoebox apartments as an
example.
Liew Mun Leong, chief executive of Southeast Asia’s largest
developer CapitaLand, weighed in on the debate by
describing the tiny apartments as “almost inhuman”.
Chua Yang Liang, head of research for Southeast Asia at
Jones Lang LaSalle, described the latest URA measure as “a
welcome move in light of rising concerns over the proliferation
of such smaller housing forms”.
(Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by John O’Callaghan)
