Envelope Control Guidelines
From 11 May 2015, all landed housing shall follow the envelope control guidelines which define an allowable building envelope based on storey height and building setbacks. The development shall not exceed the permissible building envelope as illustrated in the figure above.
For existing landed housing approved under previous conventional landed housing guidelines, all new Additions and Alterations works shall comply with the permissible building envelope in the Envelope Control guidelines.
Where the existing building already exceeds the permissible building envelope, the new Additions and Alterations shall not further increase the building bulk. URA will assess such applications on the merits of the proposal.
Under the envelope control guidelines, the overall building height is based on the allowable number of storeys and the floor-to-floor height in metres. The figures below show the building envelope and the relationship between storey height and allowable building height in meters.
2-storey Envelope Control landed housing
3-storey Envelope Control landed housing
1 Other height controls may also be applicable, such as:
@ The absolute technical height (based on Singapore Height Datum [SHD]) shall take precedence, if it is stricter than any the other height controls.
Mezzanine floors are no longer required to be kept to below 50% of a typical floor plate, and there are no restrictions on window openings on the front façade of the mezzanine floors.
Landed houses with mezzanine floors shall be designed within the permissible building envelope stipulated for the landed housing estate it is located in (ie maximum 12 m overall height for a designated two-storey landed housing estate and 15.5 m for a designated three-storey landed housing estate). The headroom proposed for each floor shall promote good internal spatial quality for residential living.
Guidelines for Mezzanine Floor
An attic is an incidental space that may be allowed within the permissible two-storey and three-storey envelopes respectively. Where roof terraces are proposed on attic roofs, they shall be located at least 3m below the top extent of the permissible building envelope to ensure future coverings by homeowners remain within the overall building envelope. Roofs with less than 3m below the top extent of the permissible building envelope shall be proposed as RC flat roofs that are non-accessible except for maintenance purposes.
Attic Guidelines (view high-res illustration here)
Basements may be built up to the limits shown in the table below.
Basement setbacks
2 Road Reserve: The plot of land to be vested in the State as required under the Street Works Act. It is demarcated by the line of Road Reserve in the Road Line Plan and the site boundary.
For sites in low lying landed housing areas, internal areas below the Minimum Platform Level (MPL)3 shall be treated as a basement storey and shall not count as an additional storey, subject to:
Where the MPL requirement is significantly higher than the existing levels of adjacent sites or roads, and the existing ground levels shall be retained, any building structures/internal spaces that are below the MPL but above the existing ground levels shall comply fully with the main building road buffer and setback requirements. They shall not be built up to the site lot boundary.
Basement guidelines for low-lying sites
3 Minimum Platform Level (MPL): The minimum 1st storey level to be provided within the site. The MPL is determined by the Public Utilities Board (PUB).
4 If external openings are proposed, additional requirements from PUB shall be complied with, as follows:
For plots with sloping ground, exposed basement protrusion above existing ground level may be considered as shown in the figure below as long as the basement protrusion is kept within the permissible Envelope Control building height.
Basement on Sloping Sites
Last updated on 27 June 2022