Buying Bungalows In Singapore – 5 Signs No One Tells You

Bungalows in Singapore are easy to spot as they are surrounded by high-rise buildings and flats.

They are a definite sign of prestige and wealth and are often aspired by many.

For their historic standing, bungalow houses are regarded as top-of-the-line landed properties in Singapore.

Singapore Bungalows were first made under British ruling.

Most of the bungalows in Singapore were made for the British army and administrative officers, British judges, and other higher members of society.

As a bookish definition, a detached house not in contact directly with other houses giving it exclusivity and privacy is called a Bungalow.

As per the Urban Redevelopment Authority definition, bungalows in Singapore should be built on the plot, whose size should be 400 sqm and 10 meters wide.

This is more than 2.5 times the size of a terrace house and doubles the size of a semi-detached house (200 sqm).

There are four types of “classes” within the Bungalow Houses faction, each distinguished by the size of their corresponding plots of land:

• class 1 is 400 sqm to 550 sqm
• class 2 is 550 sqm to 700 sqm
• class 3 is 700 sqm to 1000 sqm
• class 4 is 1000 sqm to 1400 sqm

Properties larger than class 4 bungalow houses are regarded as Good Class Bungalows in Singapore.

Here are some points you must consider before deciding to purchase bungalows in Singapore.

Only Singaporean citizens can purchase landed property in Singapore.

Singapore permanent residents who have been living in Singapore for more than 5 years can apply for the purchase of bungalows in Singapore.

Assessment of applications is done on case to case basis, considering several factors.

If you have your eyes set on a Good Class Bungalow, you have to check that the location of that Bungalow should be in Good Class Bungalow area specified by Urban Redevelopment Authority.

If you want to buy bungalow houses build in the British rule era, it might be on the conservation list.

A total of sixty-five Good Class Bungalows are put on the conservation list by URA.

If you own bungalow houses from the conservation list, you are not allowed to demolish or reconstruct them.

Yes, you can renovate or make a few changes but demolishing is not possible.

Urban Redevelopment Authority placed 65 Bungalows in Singapore on the earmarked conservation list.

A potential buyer who’s keen on reconstruction should do due diligence to check before buying.

To ensure that your prospective Bungalow is not on that list.

If you own or buy property from that list, you have to follow the guidelines defined for these properties by URA,

• You cannot tear down and rebuild such property.
• You can only make or change advice in the guideline by URA to such properties.

URA has taken such steps to conserve older Bungalows in Singapore with colonial architecture.

URA has defined controls for redeveloping bungalows in Singapore or other landed property units into bungalow houses.

Aside from Good Class Bungalow Areas, the owner can redevelop other housing forms into Bungalow houses as long as they follow the guidelines:

Semi-detached can be redeveloped into bungalow houses if it has the minimum plot size requirement, which is 400 sqm and 10 meters wide.

For semi-detached houses, the corresponding attached house also has to meet the plot size and width requirement.

An intermediate or corner terrace can be redeveloped into a bungalow in Singapore with the following requirements:

It should be a minimum plot requirement of 400 sqm, and the plot width should be 10 meters wide.

The neighboring terrace should have a minimum plot size of 200 sqm and a plot width of 8m to qualify.

Bungalows in Singapore can easily cost you millions of dollars.

Prices mostly depend upon several factors, like how big the plot size is, locality, and building architecture.

If you have a particular area in mind, you can browse similar listings or look for recent bungalow transaction data on URA.

Good class bungalows should be consistent with a plot size of at least 1,400sqm.

And be located in one of the 39 areas in Singapore designated for Good class bungalows by the URA.

Areas included in the DCBs list are Districts 9, 10, 11, 21, 23, Bishopsgate, Nassim, and Ladyhill.

The building of GCBs should not be more than 35% of the plot and not above the two stories.

Outside of the GCB areas, if you would like to buy a semi-detached or terraced house and then redevelop it into a bungalow, you may be able to do so.

Before a bungalow is to be designated as a GCB, it must meet both the size and location criteria.

As a result, GCBs are located at the top of Singapore’s premium real estate market.

Singapore PRs must get approval from the Land Dealings (Approval) Unit before purchasing a Good Class Bungalow in Singapore.