Gross Floor Area

GFA is a site level planning metric. It is what URA's plot ratio controls actually cap, and it is the number a developer works with to figure out the total quantum they can build across an entire site, spread across however many units and common facilities the scheme includes. It is not a number an individual buyer needs to size up their own unit, and you will rarely see it quoted directly in a sales brochure for a specific apartment.

What a buyer actually sees and pays on is the strata area, sometimes called saleable area, printed on the unit's floor plan and sale documents. Price per square foot is calculated against this number. How strata area is defined can vary by project and by when the development was approved, since practice around whether elements such as bay windows, planter boxes, or air conditioner ledges are included has shifted over the years under URA and BCA guidelines, which is why the same nominal unit size can feel quite different in usable space from one development to another.

What commonly surprises buyers is that two units marketed as identical in size can have noticeably different usable, liveable area if one has more of its strata area consumed by walls, ledges, bay windows, or a larger allocation of shared corridor space, a difference often summarised as the floor plan or space efficiency ratio. It is also worth knowing that GFA changes at the site level, for instance from a Master Plan plot ratio increase or an en bloc redevelopment, affect the site's total future buildable potential and therefore its en bloc value, but they do not retroactively change what you currently own within your own strata area.

Before buying, ask for the actual strata area on the title document rather than relying on the marketing brochure figure, request the floor plan with a breakdown of usable versus non usable space, and compute your own price per square foot on the strata area so you can compare fairly across different developments.

Winfred Quek is an Associate Marketing Consultant at Crestbrick Pte Ltd (CEA Licence No. L31010886H). CEA R073319H. This page is for general information only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Verify current figures with IRAS, HDB, CPF Board, or MAS before making any decision.