What are Good Class Bungalows?

Singapore is a small island with a limited amount of residential land, hence, landed properties tend to fetch a higher premium than all other kinds of residential homes. There are many kinds of landed residential homes – terraces, semi-detached, shophouse or cluster homes. But there is one type of landed property that beats all others, in terms of prestige, wealth and exclusivity — Good Class Bungalow (GCB). 

A GCB in its simplest terms is a landed property that meet the following criteria:

• At least 1,400 sqm or about 15,070 sq ft of land area 
• Has at most two storeys
• The bungalow itself cannot take up more than 40% of the total plot of land

Have to be located within these 39 Good Class Bungalow Areas (GCBAs)

Should a bungalow fail to meet the criteria, it cannot classify itself as a GCB but would rather just remain a bungalow. Some common characteristics of a GCB due to its sheer land size include privacy from your neighbours, minimal traffic sounds and plenty of parking spaces. 

At the start of this year, it was announced that the former Caldecott Broadcast Centre site in district 11 will be redeveloped into 15 GCBs. These GCBs will come with a 99-year leasehold title, the first of its kind. The plots allocated range from 15,070 sq ft to 250,801 sq ft, thus larger plots of land can be subdivided to make way for more GCBs. In total, a maximum of 26 bungalows can be built there. 

There are around a total of 2,800 GCB land plots on the island, although the actual number of GCBs may be higher. With a limited number of GCBS and no further plans to convert any more land into GCB plots, this highly exclusive type of property is sought after by many Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWI). This is evidenced by the fact that in 2021, 99 GCB transactions took place with a total transaction value of $3 billion, surpassing the previous record of $2.43 billion in 2010 and triple the value of $1.09 billion in 2020. 

Here are some high-profile purchases of GCBs:

See also: Types of houses in Singapore

For more information, visit our FAQ section.
Do check out our blog for more Real Estate content.