There are quite a number of residential property types in Malaysia to-date, with the common ones being bungalows, semi-Ds, terrace, apartment, condominium and so on.
These residential properties have existed for over a decade and is protected by the Housing Development Act (HDA), which aims to safeguard the interests of property buyers. This includes providing assistance during disputes between developers and buyers; protecting the buyer’s interests when a development is abandoned; and setting rules and regulations of when a developer can start charging the buyers.
However, in the recent years, many new types have mushroomed which causes nothing but confusion to homebuyers. Among the newly introduced and highly confusing types of properties in existence include Loft, SoHo, SoVo, SoFo and the list goes on.
What’s even more confusing is the land title it comes with! Previously, residential properties come with a residential title and was protected by the Housing Development Act (HDA). But, some of these types recently introduced in the market come with a commercial title, without the HDA protection.
So let’s take a look at the type of residential and commercial properties available in the Malaysian market right now.
1. Mansion / Bungalow / Zero Lot Bungalow / Cluster / Villa
These landed properties are the epitome of luxury in Malaysia. Most of these properties are almost the same with several minor differences.
- Mansion refers to abodes that are bigger than bungalows with a huge parcel land
- Bungalows are similar to mansions, but slightly smaller in terms of square foot and land. The house is surrounded by gardens.
- Zero lot bungalows are similar to bungalows, but with a very small piece of land. Usually, the houses are located at the corner to make full use of the land.
- Cluster home comes with a huge build-up, but are literally developed in clusters
- The villas are similar to cluster homes, but with a fancier name. There’s no proper guideline on how a villa should be developed.
These types of residences carry the residential title and will be protected by the HDA.
These are landed houses with a residential title, which poses similar attributes.
- A semi-detached home shares one common wall with its neighbouring home, whereby its layout will be a mirror image of the other
- Detached homes stand alone and doesn’t adjoin with its neighbouring home. Such homes are protected by HDA.
The terrace, link, and superlink houses are generally the same, with only one minor difference.
- Terrace homes are the smallest among them all, typically 22 ft x 75 ft
- Link houses are larger than terrace houses
- Superlink houses are the largest of the variety, ranging up to 34 ft x 80 ft
The logic behind this is to differentiate the houses according to their sizes, as it will be easier to convince the customer of a higher price tag. These types of properties offer a residential title and are protected by HDA.
4. Townhouse
A townhouse is generally two homes in one, whereby two units will be stacked on top of each other or attached side by side. But overall, it just looks like a single home from the outside. This type of home, like the others, have a residential title and are protected by the HDA.
These are the basic high-rise developments in Malaysia which have existed for ages. Both types offer affordable low-end units.
- A flat is a non-gated and guarded five-storey walk-up residence, with outdoor parking and no other facilities
- Meanwhile, an apartment is gated and guarded and is over five storeys tall. It comes with lifts and are attached to an outdoor parking space. They have basic facilities such as playgrounds and landscaping.
Both types come with a residential title (strata) and is protected by HDA.
6. Condominium / Serviced Apartment / Serviced Residence / Serviced Suites
These are the high-end high rises in Malaysia, in which condominiums are amongst the most highly preferred property. The Serviced Apartments, Serviced Residences and Serviced Suites are quite similar to condominiums, with minor differences.
- Condominium offers a full range of facilities, high security and indoor or basement parking bays. Among the criteria to be fulfilled before a development can be considered as a condominium is that it has to be developed in a land area of 4,000 square metres and above.
- Serviced Apartments, Serviced Residences and Serviced Suites come with housekeeping facilities, room service, bellboy services and so forth just like a hotel.
Condominiums usually come with a residential title and are protected by HDA. Meanwhile, the rest can 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.
7. Penthouse / Loft / Duplex
These types of properties define extravagance in a high rise, whereby it is more like a semi-detached or double storey house in the sky.
- A Penthouse refers to the topmost unit of a residential high rise, and typically takes up an entire floor – or at least half the floor. Although in previous developments penthouses were single-storey, the trends have changed and now most Penthouses are double-storey homes. There is usually only a single Penthouse within a single block of high-rise, making it the most expensive unit.
- Lofts and Duplexes are similar types with different names. These are typically double-storey units within a residential high rise.
All these properties can carry either a commercial or residential title, depending on the Land Title.
8. SoHo / SoFo / SoVo / Vos
These are the newly introduced types of properties in the market. They were introduced in the market when the developers were bounded by the Housing Development Act (HDA) to build only 70 units of homes in a 1-acre land. But with a commercial title, a developer can build 100 units within the same 1-acre land. Hence, such developments were created due to the extra profit it offers.
- The Small Office Home Office (SoHo) units can be used as either offices or homes.
- Small Office Flexible Office (SoFo) units are to be used as offices. They are coined flexible offices because a selected number of their units have breaking points in the walls to enlarge the space.
- Small Office Versatile Office (SoVo) and Versatile Office Suites (Vos) are no different, besides their name. They can only be used for commercial purposes.
SoHo units come with a residential title and are protected by the HDA, while the rest comes under the commercial title with no HDA protection.
9. Shop House
Shop houses are homes that are located above shops. Even though the shops carry a commercial title, yet there are possibilities for the houses above it to carry a residential title. However, this will depend entirely on the developer, on whether they are able to apply for a Residential Title for the homes above the shops. If the developer does not manage to change the Land Title to Residential title for the homes, the homes will not enjoy HDA protection.
Retail units and shops are quite similar but have a distinctive difference.
- Retail units are located within shopping malls
- Shop lots are located in a commercial area
Both these types carried a commercial title and are not protected by HDA.
11. Integrated / Mixed-use Development
Integrated or mixed use developments comprise of many components such as residential, commercial, entertainment and so on. Some of the developments also include shopping malls, offices and theme parks among others.
The residential components carry either a commercial or residential title, depending on whether the developer manages to apply for residential title for the residential components.
In the event that the application is unsuccessful, the residential components will carry a commercial title and will not be protected by the HDA.
Mangalesri Chandrasekaran, Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email mangales@propertyguru.com.my
