HOMES in Singapore, which have been shrinking over the past 16
years or so, are likely to shrink even more as the size of families
gets smaller and cost-conscious buyers look for more affordable
places.
Architects and analysts said the size of private homes here may
be reduced to as little as 500 square feet, roughly the size of the
living and dining areas in the new four-room Housing Board flats.
In Hong Kong, some apartments are only 172 sq ft.
[do you want to live like a developer says you should?] Singapore is not Hong
Kong. We can do without the sardine flats.
Analysts say the
demand here is being fuelled by an increasing
number of singles, young professionals and couples who want 'just
enough' space to live in.
Until the 1980s, homes were growing, to the point that the one-,
two-, and three-room flats in which many families here grew up in
the 1960s and 1970s, were no longer being built.
Living space started becoming tighter in the 1990s.
In 1987, four-room HDB flats were around 1,130 sq ft. These days,
they are about 970 sq ft.
In the private market, one-bedroom units in 1995 still measured
around 840 sq ft, like those in Dover Parkview condominium near
Dover MRT station.
At the same time, studio apartments still came in sizes of around
750 sq ft, as with King Albert Park condominium in Bukit Timah.
But recently, one-bedroom units and studio apartments have been
reduced to as small as 606 sq ft and 583 sq ft respectively, like in
Far East Organization's Icon project in Tanjong Pagar.
Despite the overall size of public flats decreasing, HDB says
'living space per person has not been reduced'.
This is because the size of the average HDB household has dropped
from 4.4 persons to fewer than 3.7 persons over the last 16 years, a
spokesman said.
'Flat sizes have had to be readjusted to avoid over-consumption
of land,' he added.
Homebuyers' budgets have shrunk too.
DTZ Debenham Tie Leung's executive director, Ms Margaret Thean,
said this is another factor that has prompted developers to build
more smaller units.
'People won't mind living in smaller spaces if a project has the
right price, is of good quality and has the convenience of nearby
amenities,' she added.
But how much smaller can Singaporean flats go?
Singapore Institute of Architects president John Ting says 500 sq
ft should be the minimum, if one considers the amount of air needed
to breathe easily.
'Anything less than this would be quite tough.'
But DTZ's Ms Thean believes people might still buy something of
less than 500 sq ft. 'If it had, say, a prime location, like Marina
Bay, and a fantastic view of the sea, I reckon it would sell,' she
said.