At least two friends have asked me about the potential for dual-key units in Kuala Lumpur. Actually, if it’s for own stay, I think it makes very good sense for those who would love to stay with their parents but not within the same home. To be honest, I would love to stay nearby my parents but staying together within the same home does have potential frictions. One very small thing, my daughter may not understand enough and wants to watch the TV at the same time that my parents were watching their favourite Hua Hee Tai. Who wins? My parents may give in but I do not like that. So, a dual key unit may serve this purpose as long as it is of my personal minimum size of 1,300 or higher. If it’s less than 1,000 sq ft, I think it will be hard for this first purpose.
Location is key. As long as it is at an area favoured by many, it’s also very suitable for investment as the unit can be rented out to two different tenants. Alternatively, one unit for the owner and the other for a tenant. This allows the owner to stay in a hotspot for half the price he would have needed to pay and at the same time slowly ‘own’ a place in a hotspot. How cool is that. I do not own any dual-key unit currently and have no wish to move to the usual hotspots favoured by many. I need more space for my family but I need money to built wealth, so could not afford to spend too much.
Well dual-keys may be new to Malaysia but in Singapore, it’s already TRIPLE-KEYs. There are of course not many of these but one got caught in the news recently. It was about how the triple-key unit developer for Gem Residences in Toa Payoh was instructed by the The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to build only ONE open kitchen for each triple-key unit instead of three as shown in the sales brochure. Three bathrooms are okay but only ONE open kitchen area is allowed.
This was reported The Business Times. It said, “URA approved the floor plan for a three-bedroom residential unit in Gem Residences comprising three bedrooms and an open kitchen. The floor plan that was submitted to us for these units did not reflect three separate kitchens. The developer was thus requested to market the residential units according to the approved plans.” Do note that building three kitchen units for a triple-key unit is NOT illegal but in this case, the earlier approval by URA did not include the three kitchen units while the brochure printed out later do. If anyone knows of any triple-key development in Malaysia, do let me know yeah. Happy buying.
written on 6 June 2016
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0 Responses
The stupid authority is also dumb enough to disapprove the three ‘kitchens’ , what is a kitchen? The usual stuff with a cooking appliance, a sink for washing and a fridge( mini?). It can be a pantry! Like a hotel room with a mini fridge, a sink, and an electric stove or a hot plate. Even in a typical dual key unit, it is a 1/2 bedroom unit with an adjoining hotel room of about 200 SF room. There is no kitchen in adjoining room but a simple pantry counter.
unfortunately, the market is moving faster than existing rules.
My first thought after reading your first paragraph was “If 2-key for extended families, then 3-key maybe for extended families + one renter?” Hahahaha! It’s really very strange though, if such a big unit with separate sections has only one kitchen.
Haha…. hmmmm….. good idea