At READ Architecture, we are not estate agents so we aren’t going to tell you to look out for nearby amenities or how long a walk that will be. More importantly, if you’re looking to buy a landed property, be it a terrace house, a semi-detached, a detached house or a good-class bungalow (GCB), and hoping to build your dream home or redevelop the house for investment purposes, there are a few key things you should look out for.
In Singapore, all our land redevelopment matters are regulated by the URA and other technical departments such as BCA, PUB, LTA, SCDF, etc. Each agency has their own set of regulations and guidelines that will apply to your landed property and the potential of its redevelopment.
If you intend to do any Additions & Alternations (A&A) works, Re-Construction works, or to demolish and build a new house entirely, we recommend you check these few key things before you purchase the land, as you could uncover potential deal-breakers of the property, they are:
1. Sewerage Interpretation Plan (SIP)
2. Drainage Interpretation Plan (DIP)
3. Road Line Plan (RLP)
4. Rail Protection Plan (RPP)
5. BCA as-built Arch and Structural Plans
The SIP / DIP / RLP / RPP may be easily purchased online. Although, not every property will have an RPP applicable. We’ll explain this further in the post. The BCA as-built plans may be purchased from Building Construction Authority (BCA), however, you’ll need consent from the owner of the property, so best to speak with the estate agent representing the land owner on this matter.
Key aspects to look out for in the following categories:
1. Sewerage Interpretation Plan (SIP)
This is a set of drawings from PUB that shows where the main public sewers lines are in relation to the landed property. If you’re lucky, there wont be any public sewer lines within your site. If there is a public sewer line within your site, it is possible to incorporate it sensitively into your house design, although authority requirements will be more stringent and depending on the desire design of the house, the professional engineer (PE) may have to design for a reinforced-concrete (RC) trench for the public sewer line within the house. If you don’t care for the technicalities of the matter, what this translates to is a higher construction cost for your new home or limitations on what you can achieve with the new house design.
2. Drainage Interpretation Plan (DIP)
As the name suggests, these plans from PUB will show info pertaining to drainage matters at the chosen site. This document will indicate the Minimum Platform Level (MPL) of the site, this is usually quite typical. The MPL of a development site is the minimum ground level of the proposed development which is necessary for flood protection. However, you may have to check if the property is in a flood prone area as there are special requirements for sites within flood prone areas, and can only be determined accurately upon consultation with PUB. This means that the ground level of the new house may be significantly higher compared to the external road level.
Another key point is whether there is a Drainage Reserve within the boundary of the site. A Drainage Reserve (DR) refers to land that is set aside for drainage works pursuant to development proposals approved by a competent authority. Depending on the protect type (A&A / Re-Construction / New built), DRs will be required to be vested to the Government so that drainage works can be executed. (This will also need to be vested to the Government should the need arise, regardless of development works.) The DR will directly impact the building setbacks for the new house (meaning a smaller house footprint on the total land area), as there should not be any new building structures with in the DR, in the event that the Government may need to carry out drainage improvement works in that area.
3. Road Line Plan (RLP)
Land Transport Authority (LTA) safeguards land for road reserve to construct new roads or improve existing roads. Lines of Road Reserve are lines showing the extent of the future safeguarded roads. What this means for property owners is that if there is a road reserve line within your property boundary, the the extent of land there is safeguarded by the government. The government will acquire the land when it constructs or improves the roads in that area. Case in point, in 2011, the Government acquired 38 lots of land entirely and 33 lots partially, including 25 terrace houses at Marymount Terrace, and part of Marymount Convent. So any road reserve within the house plot could significantly affect your house development plans in terms of setbacks and usable land for the house footprint.
4. Rail Protection Plan (RPP)
The Railway Protection Plan shows the railway safety zone, railway protection zone, railway corridor and railway 1st reserve, basically all the lines set out by the government to protect our MRT lines. These aren’t applicable to every landed property, only to those within a certain proximity to MRT lines / stations / underground tracks. For these properties, any development and structural works will be subject to more stringent regulations due to the proximity to the rapid transit system. This means significant added cost to your construction budget all to protect our MRT systems.
5. BCA as-built Arch and Structural Plans
It is always good to have the BCA as-built Arch and Structural plans. If you’re intending to rebuild the house from scratch, then you will not need the structural plans. These are mostly applicable to A&A works or Re-Construction works as your architect and engineer will have to work with the existing house structure. Also, a thorough check of these drawings will help owners decide if the existing structure is suitable for A&A or Re-Construction. For example, you may envision having full height glass to bring in lots of natural sunlight into double volume spaces and high ceilings in your new dream home, but due to the existing structures of the existing house, if the existing beams are very deep, you could end up with very low ceiling heights and small glass panels.
Building your dream home may seem like a daunting and complicated process but with the right professionals and advice, the process is quite enjoyable!
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