Private Enclosed Spaces and Private Roof Terraces to be included as GFA

24 June 2015

This is with reference to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) guidelines which came into effect from 12th January 2013.

This article aims at new home owners who may not be completely aware of the following guidelines established by the Urban Redevelopment Authority in 2013.

Background:

Private enclosed spaces (PES) and private roof terraces (RTs) are usually found in flats and condominium developments. Located on the first storey or roof level, these spaces are commonly used for outdoor gardens. Similar to balconies these are semi–outdoor spaces that form a part of the private area which are sold to home buyers.

Formerly, private enclosed spaces and private roof terraces were not included in the computation of Gross Floor Area (GFA). This was to encourage developers to build more outdoor spaces so that residents could enjoy light and openness in their apartment.

New Guidelines with effect from 12th January 2013.

1. The URA has reviewed the guidelines and will now count PES and private RTs for non-landed residential developments as part of the bonus GFA capped at 10% above the master plan control.

2. The above revision will prevent excessive provisions of PES and private RTs and hence in turn

there will be no more compromise on communal space. However developers are still given

flexibility to propose various sizes of PES and private RTs in different configurations that best

meet the market demand.

3. Coverings over PES and private RTs are allowed to address the needs of home owners for

protection against killer litter and weather. However, they need to comply with a set of

guidelines to retain a semi-outdoor character to qualify for the bonus GFA scheme. The list can be found on the URA website.

Height of Common wall between two Residential Units with PES

Due to requests received from residents of the 1st storey units to raise the height of PES common wall with their neighboring unit for better privacy, the common wall may be built up to 1.8m high between a paired PES. However the common wall beyond the balcony edge shall be kept to a maximum of 1m high so as to keep PES beyond the balcony edge as an open outdoor space.

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