THERE are more than 30 types of houses available in the property market worldwide.
They include condominium, apartment, serviced apartment, serviced residence, flat, shophouse, terrace, link, super-link, townhouse, semi-detached home, bungalow, villa, manor, yurt, ranch, cabin, chalet, carriage house, mansion, McMansion, tiny home, mobile home, manufactured home, containerhome, cottage, fort, castle, palace and chateau.
But in Malaysia, the common ones are condominium, apartment, serviced apartment, serviced residence, flat, shophouse, terrace, link, super link, townhouse, semidetached home, bungalow and villa.
There are also kampung houses in villages. A traditional kampung house is a structure raised on stilts high above the ground, covered with thatched roofs, enclosed with wooden walls, and perforated with windows and lattices. These dwellings were often surrounded by rice paddies, fruit orchards, and fishing jetties, which were the sources of livelihood for the community. People still buy kampung houses as a short getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life.
HOUSES SEARCHED ON INTERNET
When people search the Internet for “types of houses”, they most probably look for different architectural styles or different types of residential building structures.
Architectural style is basically the style in which the home is built, such as Cape Cod, Mediterranean and Georgian.
The types of building structures include condominium, apartment, serviced apartment, serviced residence, flat, shophouse, terrace, link, super-link, townhouse, semidetached home, bungalow and villa.
In recent years, many new types of live-in and work place have been created by developers like small-office-home-office (SoHo), small-office-flexible-office (SoFo), small-office-versatile-office (SoVo), and versatile office suites (Vos). They are usually part of integrated developments and you would see a lot of these coming up all over Malaysia as people look for a standard place to work, live and play.
These types of properties are more practical for those who are single, young working executives and newly-weds.
For high-income earners, there’s also penthouses and duplexes. Some developers have cleverly labelled them “bungalows in the sky” when marketing them.
Perhaps in the future we may see a triplex, just like the duplex but it has three levels.
Or have triplexes already made their mark in Malaysia?
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ACT PROTECTED
Residential properties are protected under the Housing Development Act (HDA). Many new Malaysian house buyers are still not aware of what is HDA.
The HDA aims to safeguard the interests of buyers by providing assistance when disputes arise between developers and buyers; protecting buyers’ interests when a development is abandoned; and setting rules and regulations on when a developer can start charging buyers.
In case of dispute from the developer, the process of submitting a claim for defects is stated clearly in HDA Malaysia’s prescribed contracts. Any issues between the purchaser and the developer can be elevated to the Homebuyer Tribunal established under the act.
On top of that, if the unit is strata-titled, the buyer will also get additional legal protection under the Strata Title Act of 1985 and Strata Management Act of 2013.
TYPES OF PROPERTIES IN MALAYSIA
1.Bungalow/Mansion/Villa
A mansion is a large, luxurious house. Interestingly, there is no legal definition regarding how big a house must be in order to be called a mansion. But it should be typically more than10,000 sqft and with plenty of land space and priced more than RM8 million for the bigger properties.
Bungalows are similar to mansions, but slightly smaller in terms of square foot and land size. The built-ups are usually 4,000 to 10,000 sq ft. A bungalow in Kemensah Heights with built-up of 6,000 is selling between RM5.5 million and RM6 million.
Similarly, a bungalow in Serdang South with built-up of 5,110 sqft is selling for RM2.2 million to RM2.4 million. This shows how important location is and how it affects the pricing of a property.
Villas are fancier and more expensive. You can have them single-, double-or triple-storey. Luxury villas with limited units in a gated-and-guarded community can easily range from RM3 million to RM8 million.
A seven-bedroom villa with living and built-up area of 15,000 sq ft in Kenny Hills is in the market for RM15 million.
2. Semi-Detached Home
A semi-detached house is a pair of houses joined together by a common wall. A side of each house shares a common wall while the other is detached. Often each house’s layout is a mirror image of the other unless the owner has done some modifications to the property. There’s also big garden space.
3. Terrace/Link/Superlink
Terrace, link and superlink are generally houses built in rows, sharing common walls with next-door units, which all look alike.
Terraced homes are the smallest among them, typically measuring 22ft x 75ft or 20ft x 80ft. The houses are usually two-storey high and the number of units in a row can vary.
The units at the end of the rows tend to have larger space than the rest. Link houses are larger than terraced houses.
Superlink houses are the largest of them all and can measure up to 34ft x 80ft. These days you would find many superlink houses in guarded-and-gated communities.
4. Townhouse
A townhouse is generally two homes (each individually owned) in one, whereby two units will be stacked on top of each other. Overall there is a total of three floors, with each unit taking up half of the floors. But from the outside, it just looks like a single home.
Townhouses are essentially the same as terraced houses, whereby they are connected by a common wall and are identical in appearance.
5. Condominium/Apartment/Serviced Apartment/Serviced Residence
These are high-rise properties in a single building.
In the past, condominiums and apartments were much sought-after. As people become more established in their careers Regular apartments are one of the cheapest homes you can find in the market.
Condominiums offer a full range of facilities like swimming pools, gyms, sports facilities, high security and indoor or basement parking bays. They have a residential title and are protected by HDA.
Serviced apartments and residences come with housekeeping facilities, swimming pools, security systems, gyms, clubhouse and high security similar to a hotel.
These properties come with either residential or commercial title; although they typically carry a commercial title. If it comes with a commercial title, the property will not be protected by the HDA.
6. Penthouse/Duplex Loft
A penthouse is the highest unit of a residential building. Penthouses are the most expensive as they typically take up an entire floor.
A luxurious penthouse (6,483 sq ft) at Pavilion Damansara Heights is currently selling for about RM11.3 million.
A 7,000 sq ft penthouse at Tijani, Kenny Hill is selling for RM7.9 million.
Well, if that is considered expensive then what will surely surprise you is to know that the most expensive penthouse ever to be sold in Malaysia to-date is the super penthouse at The Binjai which was transacted at RM50 million.
Duplex loft is basically a double-storey unit within a residential tower.
Developers at one point used to build and sell duplex lofts but you don’t get them doing that these days. It is because there is low demand for duplexes in Malaysia?
7. SoHo/SoFo/SoVo/Vos
SoHos, SoFos, SoVos and Vos are usually located in commercial areas because they are intended for those who want to integrate their offices in their homes.
The owners or tenants can use the property as home or office, or both. SoHo is basically small-office-home-office and comes with commercial title and is HDA protected.
SoVo, on the other hand, is fully equipped with facilities required to run a business. It has commercial title and is not HDA protected.
SoFo is usually used as an office. SoFo is coined flexible office because a selected number of the units have breaking points in the walls to enlarge the space.
This type of property has commercial title but is not HDA protected.
Vos can only be used for commercial purposes and is not HDA protected.
8. Flat
A flat can be multi-storey, meaning the building can have up to 25 or 30 floors and have lifts to service the residents.
There are walk-up flats if the building has only five to seven floors. There are no facilities and parking is outdoor, usually by the road side. A flat comes with a residential title (strata) and is protected by HDA.
9. Shophouse
Shophouses are homes that are located above shops. Even though the shops carry a commercial title, there’s a possibility for the floor above to carry a residential title. However, this depends on whether the developer is able to change the land title to residential title.