New definitions of floor area could eat into developers’ saleable area - and margins - for condo projects

EARLIER this month, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) issued a circular on harmonisation of floor area definitions to be adopted by 4 government agencies: URA, Singapore Land Authority (SLA), Building and Construction Authority, and Singapore Civil Defence Force.

The changes, which will take effect on Jun 1, 2023, have the laudable objective of improving productivity for the built environment profession. However, they will also have implications for private housing developers, resulting in a reduction in saleable area for condominium projects.

This is because under the new standardised definition, all strata areas will have to be included as gross floor area (GFA), which is controlled by the Master Plan plot ratio for the site.