Type of Property in Singapore

Type of Property in Singapore fall broadly into 4 categories with its own unique characteristics and advantages.
Housing and Development Board (HDB) Flats    These are considered as Singapore’s Public Housing. As it is Public Housing there are a lot more restrictions you will need to take into consideration. Not everyone is eligible to purchase a HDB, only Citizens & PRs are eligible. Some general guideline includes: • You need to be part of an approved Family Nucleus • You cannot own a private property here or overseas • There is a Minimum Occupation Period (currently at 5 years) before you sell
Private Residential Properties    These are the non Public Housing Residential Properties and these can be further broken down into the following categories. A.    Non-Landed Private Residential Properties  These are the most liberal in terms of eligibility criteria. Anyone who can afford can buy a Non-Landed Private Residential Property. However Non-Singaporeans are restricted from buying all the units within a building.  There are 2 distinct types of Non-Landed Private Residential Properties: • Condominiums -These are apartments which come with several facilities. There are swimming pool, tennis courts, gym and others. You’ll need to pay a maintenance fee for the upkeep of the facilities. • Apartments – These are the apartments that do not come with any facilities except basic ones such as carpark. B.    Landed Private Residential Properties These are considered a Restricted Property under the Residential Property Act. Non Singapore Citizens and PRs need to seek approval from the Minister of Law if they want to buy a Landed Private Residential Property. Landed properties includes: • Terrace Houses – Houses which share a common boundary (2 – 3 sides) with at least 3 houses in a row• Semi-Detached Houses – Houses which share a common boundary on one side of the property • Detached Houses / Bungalows – Houses which are free standing and do not share any common boundary with other houses • Good Class Bungalows – Bungalows which are on a plot of land of at least 15,000sf. The 3 most widespread tenures available are Freehold, 99yrs leasehold or 999 yrs leasehold.
Commercial Properties    With the high residential property prices reducing the yield returns, some investors are starting to look at Commercial Properties. Commercial properties at this point are returning higher yields than residential properties. However they are a lot more exposed to economic fluctuations. Commercial properties fall under 3 broad categories. A.    Retail – These are spaces which can be utilised for retail businesses and include • Mall Strata Titled Shops – These are becoming rare as most new malls are owned by REITS or are not offered for sale. You probably can only find these in the older malls. A. Shophouses – Low-rise (usually 2-3 storey) building offering retail spaces with frontage. B. HDB Shops – Retail spaces in HDB development usually located on the ground floor. C. Offices  – These are spaces which can be used as an office space. C. Industrial spaces These are spaces which are used for industrial purposes. These spaces can be segregated by their usage. • Business 1 (B1) – these are for the lighter industrial and non-noisy usage which do not require much nuisance buffer area. • Business 2 (B2) – areas for the heavy industrial usage, these areas will have nuisance buffers implemented. • Business Park – these are the areas for high technology, R&D and knowledge intensive activities.
Singapore Land     Another option for property investors are to purchase vacant land, these can then be developed. In Land Scarce Singapore, land is a very rare commodity. However it’s still possible to buy land off the market or through the Government land sale.