Why an Executive Maisonette?

I like EMs cos of the space, plus the fact that such units comes with three toilets.  While Executive Apartments are just as spacious, they only have two toilets.  Jumbos and Multi-Generation apartments that may have more than two toilets are hard to come by, not to mention factoring location and transport needs.

My personal views aside, I do have some news articles I’ve found that gives some (unbiased?) insights.

Stairway to (housing) heaven explains that:

• HDB stopped constructing new executive flats after the introduction of the Executive Condominium Housing Scheme in 1995, maisonettes are now in limited supply. (But limited supply is not a factor I considered!  In fact age of the apartment was quite a big turn-off, especially for the older EMs that can be around 30-ish years old.) Update on 16 Oct 2012: Govt will not build any more executive maisonettes: Khaw
• Maisonettes can be found in various mature estates such as Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Panjang, Clementi, Hougang, Queenstown and Sembawang. (Yep, important cos I would like the convenience of a mature estate)
• Typical units have floor areas from 1,527sqf to 1,560sqf. As such, they are popular among couples and families who like more room. (Yes!!)
• The bedrooms are upstairs, so guests can hang out downstairs in the living and dining areas without going near the private areas. Plus, there is no way for anyone to peek into the bedrooms from the corridor. (Yes for me too.)

For those “penthouse” lovers, there are those maisonette units with sky terraces and unblocked view as this article “Give up the sky for $1m?” explains.  These units are rare too, e.g. only 52 in Bishan, and 12 in Choa Chu Kang (one was sold with $100K COV in 2010).  In Strathmore (Queenstown), there are only 4 of these precious babies, and one made news when it nearly set the record price.  Makes you wonder when one of them will break the $1 million HDB ‘ceiling’ price huh?

Here are some pics to ‘tempt’ you…

Bishan ‘sky terrace’ EMs are located on the 2nd highest floor in each of these point blocks

View from a ‘sky terrace’

There are more nicely renovated EMs around. Think I’ll get around to doing features eventually.

This is one of the 4 Strathmore units.

A Choa Chu Kang ‘penthouse’ interior

Other posts you may be interested in:

• 7 reasons why Mei Ling Street is a great place to live in
• Most expensive executive flats in Singapore?   
• How much would you pay for a HDB?  
• Pasir Ris HDB maisonettes with sky terraces  
• Why an Executive Maisonette?