http://business.asiaone.com/Business...09-338432.html
Some showflats still not following marketing guidelines
SINGAPORE - Random checks by The Straits Times on six showflats here have found that they have yet to adhere to proposed guidelines to ensure that developers are more transparent in their marketing.
The guidelines, proposed in March last year, are meant to give buyers a more accurate picture of what it would feel like to live in small-sized 'shoe-box' units, and prevent misleading marketing gimmicks by developers.
Not adhering to the guidelines may mean that buyers who have viewed a showflat would have left with the wrong impression as to how big the actual unit would be.
That seemed to be the observation by local broadsheet, after checks on six showflats randomly selected across the island - two in the east, two in the west, and two in the central district, all from different developers.
All six showflats did not adhere to three of the proposed guidelines, which are putting up signs to mark any removed walls, partitions or doors; ensuring location, site and floor plans are drawn to scale, and disclosing floor areas of exterior spaces like balconies.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the new rules are "being finalised" for implementation in the second half of the year, after the Housing Developers (Control & Licensing) Act has been amended.
Developers interviewed say support the call for transparency but maintain that their showflats are modelled after actual units.
A Keppel Land spokesman said buyers often asked if the showflat fittings and finishes and the unit's specifications would be similar to the end product.
Others said that some of the unfulfilled requirements in the showflats checked could be verbally communicated to visitors or were just plain obvious.
Mr Colin Tan, research head at Chesterton Suntec International, suggested that developers could prepare a bare showflat unit and one with a designed interior, to show buyers what they can do to make the area feel more spacious.
International Property Advisor chief executive Ku Swee Yong noted that the suggestion to inform buyers about the sizes of exterior areas like aircon ledges and balconies, which are considered less useable spaces, was especially important, given that "small-sized residential units suffer from disproportionately large low-value floor areas".
"For a luxury 2,000 sq ft apartment, such areas may take up 8 to 15 per cent of the (space), but for small apartments of 500 sq ft, such low-value areas may take up more than 20 to 30 per cent," he said.
Key guidelines
- Showflats to accurately depict the actual unit by having the same floor area and floor-to-ceiling height and signs to mark positions of removed walls, partitions or doors;
- Floor area of rooms in a new unit - from balconies to bedrooms to dining area, and also the space for areas such as planter boxes and bay windows, must be outlined accurately;
- Developers to provide price list for units at least two days before sale;
- Advertisements for housing projects must not contain false or misleading information;
- Developers to provide track record, with details of at least one completed project.
Note: Implementation date to be advised
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Originally Posted by Wild Falcon
