In a city where most families live in flats of modest size, a small number of households have quietly made larger homes by joining two units into one, and the rarity of these jumbo flats now sits at the centre of a government review. Their origins lie in an earlier era of unsold housing stock, when combining units helped families stay close to the neighbourhoods they knew. Today the same quality that makes them precious, their generous and irreplaceable space, makes them slow to change hands, as owners discover that a generous home is not always an easy one to pass on.
Rare, roomy and pricey: inside Singapore's niche jumbo HDB flat market
Rare, roomy and pricey, but not easy to sell
Mark
Why did a single listing trigger a government review?
Mimi
The Telok Blangah flat was asked at S$2.18 million in September. HDB said it would review the conversion scheme right after, though it hasn't said what the review covers.
Luke
Worth saying the link is timing, not stated cause. HDB hasn't explained its reasoning, and the asking price has already come down to S$1,999,999.
Mark
So is S$2 million the new price of a jumbo flat?
Mimi
Professor Sing says no. An ask only counts if a buyer closes near it. The median resale of converted flats in 2025 was S$910,000.
Luke
And that median covers converted flats generally, from 408 transactions over ten years. It's a thin dataset, so I wouldn't read much precision into it.
Mark
Why is selling hard even with interested buyers?
Mimi
Leases and loans. Mr Tong says shorter leases limit bank loans and CPF use, so buyers may want the flat but can't finance it.
Luke
That's one agent's account of how it works, though it fits Prof Sing's point about illiquidity. Ms Tan's flat is evidence: over a year listed, two viewings in five months.
Mark
And the dual-key couple?
Mimi
Mr Shah says maybe one in ten buyers liked the layout. Their sale collapsed over timing, not price.
Luke
That's his estimate from his own viewings, not market data. What we don't know is how the review will change supply.
O Pulso
- A rare category of home, roughly 2,900 jumbo flats in a city of over a million, has become a source of uncertainty after a single high-priced listing prompted the Housing and Development Board to review its conversion scheme.
- Owners who wish to sell are finding the market unexpectedly slow, with some listings sitting for more than a year and a buyer who could not move in soon enough causing a sale to be shelved entirely.
- Asking prices are running ahead of what transactions have actually fetched, with converted flats trading at a 2025 median of S$910,000, leaving sellers and buyers working from very different expectations.
- Financing limits tied to older leases and CPF rules are blocking willing buyers, while the review's scope and timeline remain undisclosed, so the market is settling into a selective and uncertain holding pattern.
In a city where most families live in flats of modest size, a small number of households have quietly made larger homes by joining two units into one, and the rarity of these jumbo flats now sits at the centre of a government review. Their origins lie in an earlier era of unsold housing stock, when combining units helped families stay close to the neighbourhoods they knew. Today the same quality that makes them precious, their generous and irreplaceable space, makes them slow to change hands, as owners discover that a generous home is not always an easy one to pass on.
When Ms Aileen Tan's father decided in 2018 to leave his semi-detached house, he had one requirement for his next home: enough room for his grandchildren to play and for the parties he loved to host. A jumbo flat in Clementi met it, a 1,615 sq ft unit made by joining a two-room and a three-room flat. After his death, Ms Tan, now 61 and retired, inherited it. She lives there, rents out two rooms for a combined S$3,300 a month, and values the storage, her books, the large kitchen, and a small spa room of her own.
Such homes are rare. An estimated 2,900 have been created by merging two complete units, about 0.25 per cent of Singapore's flats. The scheme dates to 1993, following earlier combinations in the late 1980s when unsold stock piled up in towns like Woodlands and Yishun. HDB no longer offers jumbo flats, so new ones appear only when an owner finds a suitable neighbouring unit and times the sales carefully. When a Telok Blangah jumbo flat was listed at S$2.18 million in September, HDB announced a review of the conversion scheme. That asking price has since fallen to just under S$2 million.
Demand is real. Buyers want space to rent out, to store things, or to offer to children who return home. Interior designer Vivian Wang and her husband, whose parents cannot buy property, bought a Bendemeer flat for S$940,000 so the generations could live as two units around a shared area. Selling is harder. Ms Tan hopes to sell her flat, now listed above S$1.1 million for over a year, since her children live overseas. Viewings have picked up since July, when a buyer wait-out period was lifted, but older leases can limit bank and CPF financing.
Rafael Shah and Ann Baki's experience shows the difficulty. They spent about S$100,000 partitioning their flat in 2012 for a shared family arrangement, then listed it to move closer to their daughter's school. A near-target offer fell through because the buyer could not move in for a year. They rented part of the home out and moved instead.
Experts caution that asking prices are not market value, and HDB has not said what its review will involve or when it will finish. For now, owners like Ms Tan describe their homes as perfect for their own lives, even as they wonder whether another family will someday need that space.
When Ms Aileen Tan's father decided in 2018 to leave his semi-detached house, he set one condition for the next home: it had to be big enough for his grandchildren to play in and for the weekend parties he loved to host. A jumbo flat in Clementi met it. The 1,615 sq ft unit had been made by joining a two-room and a three-room flat, leaving four rooms and three bathrooms.
He has since died, and Ms Tan, 61 and retired, inherited the flat. She lives there now and rents out two spare rooms for a combined S$3,300 a month. She cites the storage, the room for her books, a very large kitchen that suits cookouts, and a small spa room of her own. She says she cannot think of anything more she would want from a home.
Her flat is a rarity. An estimated 2,900 flats have been created by merging two complete units, about 0.25 per cent of the more than 1.1 million flats in Singapore. In September, a 1,465 sq ft jumbo flat in Telok Blangah was listed on PropertyGuru at S$2.18 million. The listing prompted the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to say it would review the flat conversion scheme, which lets eligible owners combine adjoining units. The asking price has since dropped to S$1,999,999.
The history helps explain the scarcity. According to Professor Sing Tien Foo of the National University of Singapore, HDB began combining flats in the late 1980s because of unsold stock in towns such as Woodlands, Yishun and Bedok. The conversion scheme followed in 1993, letting households that needed more room stay in their neighbourhoods and social networks. HDB no longer offers jumbo flats, so new ones appear only when an owner finds a suitable adjoining unit. Property agent Thomas Tong, who listed the Telok Blangah flat, says that takes timing and luck. An owner must complete the minimum occupation period before buying the neighbour's flat, then serve a new one before selling the merged unit.
Demand exists. Mr Tong says the Telok Blangah listing drew a ridiculous number of enquiries, helped by a remaining lease of 91 years, far longer than most jumbo flats have. Buyers value the flexibility: space to rent out, store things in, or give to children who move back.
Interior designer Vivian Wang, 30, wanted that flexibility. A permanent resident, she lives in a rented Bishan flat with her husband and his parents, who are foreigners and cannot buy their own home. The generations keep different hours, so she sought a jumbo flat where they could live as two units around a shared common area. Most she saw were in places like Woodlands and Bedok. Earlier this year the couple bought a 1,600 sq ft flat in Bendemeer for S$940,000. It has about 46 years of lease left, but they do not plan to sell.
Selling is where owners meet friction. Ms Tan hopes to sell her flat, which has about 56 years of lease left, because both her children live overseas and she expects to travel for long stretches. It has been listed for over a year at about S$1.1 million. The first five months brought two enquiries and two viewings. Since July, when the 15-month wait-out period for private property owners buying non-subsidised resale flats without an HDB loan was lifted, she gets multiple viewings a week.
Financing is another hurdle. Mr Tong notes that older flats with shorter leases can limit how much buyers may borrow from banks or use from CPF savings, so willing buyers may still be unable to pay. Prof Sing calls the market niche and potentially illiquid, with demand now selective, and says older, less central units with lease decay may sell with more difficulty.
Rafael Shah, 47, and Ann Baki, 39, bought their jumbo flat for S$650,000 in 2012. After having children they spent about S$100,000 to partition the roughly 1,900 sq ft home into separate areas for themselves and Mr Shah's mother. Listing it this year to move nearer their daughter's school in the east, they found the dual-key layout appealed to perhaps one buyer in ten. A buyer offered close to their S$1.2 million target, but could only move in a year later, which would have meant long commutes when their daughter started primary school in January. They shelved the sale, rent out part of the flat for about S$3,500 a month, and rent a private home in the east.
Prof Sing cautions that asking prices are not market value; a S$2 million record would only count if a transaction closed near it. The Ministry of National Development reported 408 resale transactions of converted flats from 2016 to 2025, with a 2025 median of S$910,000. HDB has not said what its review involves or when it will finish. Prof Sing suggests the scheme may need tightening, since it dates from an oversupply era. Ms Tan, meanwhile, calls her flat a perfect forever home, but one she would rather pass to a family that needs the space.
Citações Notáveis
The S$2 million record could only become reality if a willing buyer completes a transaction at or near that price.— Prof Sing Tien Foo, National University of Singapore
It is a lifestyle that is very different, so I want to find a jumbo flat so we can live separately.— Vivian Wang, jumbo flat buyer
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