Some home buyers want to live in a landed unit but don’t want the hassle of maintaining the façade, or their own pool, gym, etc.

Besides cluster housing, there is one other solution: you can look for condo projects that have a few select “townhouse” or “villa” units – essentially landed units within (and part of) a condo development.

While uncommon, here’s a good list of where you might find them in 2023:

What are landed homes in approved condo developments? 

These are actual houses, in the form of terraced, semi-detached, or bungalow units, which are considered part of the condo project. This means you have a house that enjoys similar access to condo facilities – there’s a gym, pool, BBQ pits, and so forth. 

These common facilities fall under the maintenance of the MCST, as does the external façade of your house.

So unlike owning an actual landed property, you don’t bear the full cost of maintaining or building such facilities; you just contribute to the maintenance fund like every condo owner. 

(Your maintenance fee is based on the share value of your unit, same as other condo units; but it will generally be higher as these houses tend to be bigger). 

The downside to these homes is that you have much less control over the house, compared to a “true” landed property.

You’re still subject to the laws and regulations of the MCST, just like any condo owner – so you can’t, for example, tear down the house and rebuild it to your liking. You can’t even change the façade significantly (without MCST approval). You’re also subject to the same risk of en-bloc attempts. 

While it may seem that these are all not “true” landed homes, that foreigners will be able to purchase any of these.

Not quite.

There was a point in time when foreigners were allowed to purchase strata-landed houses in an approved condominium development without any additional approval (if they aren’t of apartment status). However, this was plugged in 2012 by URA:

So today, if you are a foreigner you can only buy landed homes within a development if it is of a condominium status and not an apartment.

List of condo projects with landed homes:

Source: URA.

Some notable projects with landed homes:

We’ve mentioned some of the notable ones before (see above for the links), but here are some other interesting options:

• Sommerville Park 
• High Park Residences
• Marine Blue 
• The Wharf Residence 
• Gambier Court

1. Sommerville Park (Terrace Houses)

Attribute	Info
Location	15 Sommerville Estate Road (District 10)
Lease	Freehold
Developer	Sommerville Properties Pte. Ltd.
TOP	1990
Number of units	456

Sommerville Park is an iconic, central region development. At a quantum of $7.9 million to $9.98 million, this is definitely out of the average buyer’s range; but it’s worthy of consideration for those who might otherwise buy a “true” landed property. 

What do you get for this price tag? Apart from access to common facilities, the location – close to the D’Leedon condo – is more convenient than many isolated, landed enclaves. This project is a mere five-minute drive to the heart of Holland V, as well as to The Star Vista (a major mall in the Buona Vista area). 

It sits on a huge piece of freehold land (893,404 square feet), with just 456 units so for those who want the luxury of space this is probably one of the least dense developments you can find.

Depending on the block you live in, just walking out of it could be quite an exercise in itself, although you do have several shops (mini-mart, beauty salon) located on the inside.

Sommerville Park has also benefitted tremendously from developments in the One-North area, over the past few years. Fusionopolis, Biopolis, and the Mediacorp Campus have turned it into a hub for start-ups, tech, and media; and this has improved rentability and resale prospects for condos in the area (although on the flip side, the surge of new condos like Hyll on Holland, Leedon Green, and Wilshire Residences have all added competition to an otherwise quiet area). 

No house in a central region will ever be cheap, but Sommerville demonstrates an interesting alternative by being a strata-titled option. 

2. High Park Residences (Semi-D and Bungalow)

Attribute	Info
Location	27 Fernvale Road (District 28)
Lease	99-years leasehold
Developer	Fernvale Development Pte. Ltd.
TOP	2019
Number of units	1,390

This is a huge mega-development of 1,390 units, but the landed homes comprise only a collection of 10 semi-detached units and four bungalows. 

High Park Residences capitalises on the appeal of landed homes in a condo development: because it’s a mega-project, facilities tend to be larger and more lavish than even mid-sized condos.

With 366,168 sq ft of land, this project offers cycling trails, aqua gyms, a jamming studio, multiple pools and slides, and even a childcare centre as well as F&B and retail. 

This is a best-of-both-worlds scenario, where you get to enjoy the privacy of landed living, plus having a load of facilities that you wouldn’t normally have room for. Naturally, this makes this a prime development for families.

As an added bonus, High Park Residences is more accessible than a traditional landed area. The Thanggam LRT station is just outside the project, which provides a quick enough connection to the Sengkang MRT station (near Compass One Mall). 

Some home buyers may dislike having so many other units in the project, but we do feel it’s spaced out enough to minimise the impact.

3. Marine Blue (Bungalows)

Attribute	Info
Location	81 Marine Parade Road (District 15)
Lease	Freehold
Developer	Ladyhill Pte. Ltd.
TOP	2016
Number of units	124

There are only four bungalow units at Marine Blue, but we’re surprised that such a small development would consider landed units at all. This is essentially the opposite of High Park Residences above: 

Being a smaller project, Marine Blue doesn’t have as much in the form of facilities, and it’s more tightly packed. However, this also means the four bungalows will see much lower traffic, and there’s more privacy and exclusivity – closer in essence to a true landed home. 

Marine Blue has an unusually accessible and convenient location if you were to be thinking of it as a landed home. The Marine Parade MRT station (in front of Parkway Parade Mall) will be up later this year; this provides TEL access that is just right outside the estate. 

ALSO READ: How to hunt for affordable landed homes in the East: A seasoned landed home specialist shares her tips

The project also has Parkway Parade on one side, and i12 Katong – along with the East Coast lifestyle stretch – on the other. This means it’s packed between amenity-rich areas, with family-friendly pubs and eateries and enrichment on one side, and a major mall on the other. 

It does get a little overcrowded here, so the accessibility of East Coast Park is a good respite. Nevertheless, this is probably one of the most conveniently positioned projects in the Katong area; other landed housing options here are rare, and likely to be much pricier. 

4. The Wharf Residence (Shophouse units)

Attribute	Info
Location	7 Tong Watt Road (District 9)
Lease	999-years leasehold
Developer	Leonie Court Pte. Ltd.
TOP	2012
Number of units	186

Rather unique among condos, The Wharf Residence has a row of shophouse units as part of the project. These are conservation housing units, so homeowners are buying a chunk of history. (You can read more about its history here).

By extension of that definition, en bloc sales or changes that impact the shophouses will be more complicated; authorities are more likely to intervene where conservation homes are involved.

Some home buyers, who have a long-term legacy view, consider this a major plus point (anyway it is still relatively new to be talking about any sort of collective sales).

The Wharf Residence isn’t in what you’d call a low-density area though; this is within the city centre, and the Fort Canning MRT station is within walking distance.

Robertson Walk, with its eateries and late-night entertainment, is just down the road. This means the area can see traffic issues, and be quite busy – something that landed housing owners tend to want to avoid. That said, it is located off a quieter lane, which is somewhat a little further away from the action areas.

Nonetheless, everything from groceries to offices to other shopping is all nearby.

At a quantum that can reach $9 million, this is definitely a prestige property; but it is an expected price for something so unique (and rentable, if you’re a landlord). 

As an older and potentially more affordable option to this, see Gambier Court below.

5. Gambier Court (Shophouse units)

Attribute	Info
Location	60 Kim Yam Road (District 9)
Lease	99-years leasehold
Developer	ACT Holdings Pte. Ltd.
TOP	1999
Number of units	23

This boutique project is just across from The Wharf Residences (above) and also offers shophouse units. While locational advantages are similar, Gambier Court is a 99-year leasehold project, which is likely to result in a lower price; but transactions have been few and hard to ascertain. 

Gambier Court also offers more privacy, with just 23 units (20 units and 3 shophouses); but there’s a trade-off in that you don’t get full-suite condo facilities. 

We do think interest in townhouses, villas, and other strata-titled landed homes in condos will grow over time. This is at least partially due to our ageing population, where maintenance of landed home grounds and facades becomes troublesome with time. 

This article was first published in Stackedhomes.