Guide To The Cost of Renovating A 3-Room, 4-Room And 5-Room HDB Flat In Singapore
HDB Optional Component Scheme: HDB’s Optional Component Scheme (OCS) allows us to add the costs of essential fittings and fixtures to the overall cost of our BTO flat. This can include flooring, sanitary fittings and internal doors. What this means is that some of the work that is needed for our homes such as flooring and doors will be done for us, which should lead to lower renovation costs.
Number of built-in cabinets: There is a fascination with built-in cabinets and a perception that it enhances the value of a home. However, having built-in cabinets also means less flexibility. If we sell our home, the value of our built-in cabinets may not be highly valued by potential buyers as much as we may value it to be. It may be a disadvantage if buyers do not like our design as this means they need to spend money to hack it away.
In any case, built-in cabinets can be more expensive compared to getting similar freestanding furniture. To reduce cost, opt for built-in cabinets only when we have a design that we want.
Materials we choose: The materials we choose will make a difference in how much more or less we will pay for our home renovation. If we opt for a granite kitchen top, we should expect to spend more, compared to a laminate countertop. Similarly, opting for marble floor tiles is going to cost more than using homogenous tiles. Do avoid the misconception that more expensive materials are always better. This is not true. For example, while expensive, marble tiles for the bathroom unit in our homes may not be suitable.
Existing resale flats may cost more to renovate: Buying a resale HDB flat, or a resale private property, may increase or reduce our renovation cost. If the unit was recently renovated and is still in good, move-in condition, we can save a lot by moving in with minimal renovation work required. However, if the condition of the flat is bad, we may incur a higher cost of renovating the flat due to additional hacking work required as compared to getting a brand-new flat from HDB.
Kitchen: Unless we purchase a resale flat with a kitchen that is in good condition, chances are that the kitchen will need the most amount of carpentry. We will need to build kitchen cabinets, countertops, cooker, hob, sink and other items. Cabinets and countertops are items that will cost us the most, depending on the material and the size of the kitchen. With moderate masonry and carpentry work, we can expect to spend about $8,000 to $12,000 on average if we are building a kitchen for a brand-new HDB BTO flat.
Living Room & Dining Room: The biggest cost is likely to be the masonry work for our floor tiles if we did not opt-in for the HDB OCS, or if we want to hack or overlay the existing tiles in the resale flat that we bought. Also, we may also require some carpentry work such as feature walls, false ceiling, shoe cabinets and additional storage space. All these may cost around $8,000 to $12,000.
Bedrooms: For bedrooms, the main cost will be the flooring, false ceiling or partition work, and any built-in cabinets that we wish to build. Assuming we need to do the flooring, this can cost about $2,000 to $3,000 per bedroom or around $8,000 for all three bedrooms. Additional work such as hacking, false ceilings and cabinets can bring the cost to about $10,000.
Bathrooms: If we want tile overlays or to hack the existing tiles, walls or to remove fixtures, this will cost easily $2,000 to $3,000. Other fixtures such as a shower screen, vanity sink, bathroom accessories or even a bathtub can increase the cost of the bathroom renovation to be about $5,000 to $10,000 per bathroom. If we opt for something simple, the cost can be less than $5,000. For two bathrooms, the cost would be about $10,000 to $15,000. If buying a resale HDB flat, plumbing work for the toilet would also cost about $1,000 – $2,000 assuming no major issues.
Other costs that we will incur will include plumbing and electrical works, lighting, painting, window grills, ceiling fans and of course, air-conditioning units. We may wish to allocate about $10,000 – $12,000 to cover the costs of these works especially if we are taking over an empty BTO flat.
In total, based on our estimates from the numbers above, the cost of renovating an HDB flat would be about $50,000. This is assuming that no hacking is done, which is another cost that we may incur when renovating a resale HDB flat.
Do note that the renovation cost stated above does not include the cost of furnishing. Often, interior designers may show beautiful photos of their portfolio work to clients that look good because of the furnishing. As a new homeowner, we will not have any existing furniture, and this means we will further incur a significant cost due to furnishing a home.
Last but not least, we want to make sure that you get a good interior designer or contractor that is trustworthy to deliver the materials and services that you paid for renovating an HDB flat. Otherwise, working with an errant contractor or interior designer can be an expensive and time-consuming nightmare.