/4 min read/Updated
What a Feasibility Study Tells You
In short
What the document actually contains, and what is checked to produce it. Yield: indicative massing tested against the plot's zoning, housing type, height control and the setbacks its road category sets. Cost and programme: the site risks that never appear in a listing — levels, a public sewer under the garden, protected trees, party walls, access. Value: what the finished asset is likely to be worth. Two to three weeks for a single plot, and best done before the bid.
In this article
Topics
- Development
- Planning
- Cost
Yield
Indicative massing tested against the envelope, setbacks and height limits that apply to that plot. Not a design — a boundary within which a design will have to sit.
Landed housing in Singapore is controlled by an envelope rather than a plot ratio, so the most a plot can carry is decided by rules that are fixed before anyone draws a line. The study establishes each of them for the specific plot, and the answer is often not the one in the listing. Setbacks and Envelope Control, Explained sets the rules out in full.
What gets checked
| Check | Why it matters | Where the answer comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Zoning and housing type | Whether the plot may be a bungalow, a semi-detached or a terrace house, and whether it sits in a Good Class Bungalow Area | URA's Master Plan and landed housing area plans |
| Height control | A two-storey area allows 12 metres overall; a three-storey area, 15.5 | URA's envelope control guidelines |
| Road category | The front setback: 7.5 metres from the road reserve on most residential roads, 12 or 24 on major ones | URA's setback guidelines, with the road's category |
| Levels and slope | Retaining walls, a basement's cost, how the house meets the garden | A topographical survey |
| Public sewers and drains | Nothing may be built over a public sewer without PUB's approval; diverting one is at the owner's cost | PUB's sewer records |
| Trees | In a Tree Conservation Area, or on vacant land, felling a tree with a girth over one metre needs NParks' written approval | NParks |
| Neighbours | Party walls on a semi-detached or terrace house, and how demolition next door will be protected | A site visit and a dilapidation survey |
| Access | Whether a piling rig and a crane can reach the plot, and at what cost | A site visit |
Cost and programme
An indicative cost range for the scheme described and an indicative programme to handover, plus the buildability risks specific to that site. Steep ground, poor access and difficult neighbours all cost real money and none of them show up in a listing.
The checks above are where those costs come from. A sewer running under the best part of the garden fixes where the house cannot go, or adds a diversion to the budget. A slope adds retaining walls before it adds anything else. A party wall on a terrace house means protecting the neighbour's structure through demolition, which our own planning tool allows tens of thousands of dollars for. The Hidden Costs of Building puts figures on the rest.
Value
A view on long-term positioning: what the finished asset is likely to be worth, and which decisions in the first six months will affect that most. This is advisory, and it is the part clients return for.
It is also the part that most often changes a decision. A plot that yields a smaller house than the price assumed, or one whose cost to build has been underestimated, is a plot to walk away from — and the time to walk away is before the bid, not after the option is exercised.
How long it takes
Two to three weeks for a single plot, from the site visit to a written study. Comparing two or three plots at once takes less time for each, because much of the work — the area's controls, the market view — is shared between them.
Before you bid
Before you bid on a plot, in District 10 or anywhere else, let us run a feasibility study on it. Tell us about the site and we will tell you what it can carry, what it will cost to get there, and whether the price makes sense.
Key takeaways
- Three answers: yield, cost and programme, and likely value.
- The plot's zoning, height control and road category fix the envelope before any design.
- A public sewer, a protected tree or a party wall can each change what a plot is worth.
- Two to three weeks for a single plot, less each if two or three are compared together.
- It is a boundary for a design, not a design — and it belongs before the bid.
On this site
First published in the KAPA Journal, written with KAPA Design Collective, the practice that designs and builds our residences.
Published by TMB Development at tmbdevelopment.com/journal/what-a-feasibility-study-tells-you. Quoting a passage with a link back is welcome; republishing it is not — see the terms.
