Nov 2021 BTO: Analysis for Kent Heights at Kallang/Whampoa

With the restrictions given to HDB's Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) model flats, Kent Heights at Kallang/Whampoa’s looking pretty good on the investment front since it sits on a relatively prime locale without being subjected to the PLH restrictions. We take at look at the site and its surrounds, as well as the best units to go for if you decide to go for a unit here.

BTO	Kent Heights
Location	Along Owen Road
Total no. of units	430
Unit types	2-room flexi and 4-room units
No. of blocks	1
Highest storeys	32
Estimated completion date	4Q2026
Indicative pricing	$192K to $241K for 2-room Flexi 1 $247K to $309K for 2-room Flexi 2 $511K to $660K for 4-room
Nearest MRT station	Farrer Park MRT (~14-min walk) on the North-East Line
Surrounding amenities (within a 15-min walk)	• 500-metre jogging track on site • Eateries along Owen Road and Rangoon Road • Pek Kio Market and Food Centre • Neighbourhood Centre along Cambridge Road, with a Fairprice supermarket • City Square Mall with a Fairprice and Don Don Donki supermarket • Square 2, Velocity and Royal Square Novena malls
Schools within 1-km (estimated)	• Farrer Park Primary School • Hong Wen School • St Joseph’s Institution Junior

Site Visit

The (small) plot of land for Kent Heights is surrounded by a condominium, an HDB flat and the CTE. The 8-storey multi-storey car park on the site provides a bit of a buffer, but you are likely to still be impacted by the traffic noise, especially if your stack is facing the expressway and you are located on a unit that’s higher than the 8th floor.

The CTE is located next to the site.

The swimming pool for the adjacent condo (Cityscape @ Farrer Park) is situated just next to the BTO, so we did hear quite a bit of commotion and ambient noise when we visited the area.

The adjacent condo's facilities (left) are located right next to the site for Kent Heights.

Notice where the swimming pool is?

Image courtesy of Google Maps Footfall is also on the higher side, seeing as the back entrance of the condo, one that is frequently accessed, is also located next to the BTO site. Not the best option for peace and quiet, but Kent Heights scores in terms of convenience. There are plenty of food choices in the area. Right across Owen Road is a neighbourhood centre with several eateries, a coffee shop and a hawker centre. Walk along Owen Road and Rangoon Road and you’ll also find a number of popular cafes and restaurants. The nearest shopping mall is City Square Mall, located next to the Farrer Park MRT station on the North-East Line. It is still a 14-min walking distance to the MRT and mall, so it’s not exactly very near but it’s still walkable. The mall packs a wide variety of retail and food options, as well as Don Don Donki and Fairprice supermarkets to get weekly groceries at. Besides this Farrer Park neighbourhood, you’ll also get to enjoy the amenities and malls available at Novena. It will take you about a 15-min walk to reach the heart of Novena (walk via an overhead bridge over the CTE), which has several shopping malls in the area as well as the Novena MRT station on the North-South Line.

Which are the best units to go for at Kent Heights?

For peace and quiet:

• As mentioned earlier, we would definitely recommend going for a stack that is facing away from the CTE.
• The same stacks that are facing the CTE are also facing the car park, with some of the stacks overlooking the play facilities, fitness corners and pavilion. So noise levels generated from being around human activity zones are definitely going to be high, particularly for those on the lower floors.
• We aren’t sure where the jogging track will be, since it’s not indicated on HDB’s map. But it will generate some noise for those living close to the track. Do check out Kent Heights’ 3D model to determine where the jogging track will be.
• Stack 206 will likely also be affected by noise levels from the adjacent condominium, as their swimming facilities are located just next to this stack.
• These are the stacks to go for, if you want to avoid high noise levels: 208*, 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 222.
• *Stack 208 is facing an adult fitness corner, although it is quite some distance away and isolated i.e. less people gathering around.

Carpark will provide a bit of a buffer from the noise generated by the CTE traffic.

Image courtesy of HDB For unblocked views:

• For the stacks that face the CTE (200, 202, 204, 206, 224, 226), what they lack in peace and quiet, they make up for it in unblocked views. For stacks 204 and 206, as they are facing a relatively tall HDB (20 storeys) across the expressway, you may want to get a unit that’s higher than the 20th floor.
• Stacks facing away from the CTE (208, 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 222) would benefit from unblocked views if you manage to snag a unit that is higher than the 12th floor.

View for stacks facing the CTE. Mostly of Novena and the surrounding hospitals.

Image courtesy of Google Maps

View of the stacks facing away from CTE. Mostly of the Farrer Park neighbourhood.

Image courtesy of Google Maps For a cooler unit:

• Don’t want your home to be baked by the afternoon sun? Go for a unit that is lower than the 11th floor for stacks 208 and 210 as the HDB block in front of them will be able to help block off the sun coming from the south-west direction.
• For stacks 200, 202, 204, 206, 224 and 226, get a unit that is lower than the 8th floor if you want the nearby car park to block off the afternoon sun coming in from the north-west direction.

The sun direction comes from two directions (north-west and south-west) in Singapore, depending on the month.

For privacy:

• In terms of privacy, you will want to be looking at corner units that are away from the rubbish chutes as well as the lifts. These include: 200, 206, 208, 218, 222 and 224.
• Note: For units on the 9th and 10th floor on stacks 200, 202, 224 and 226, people walking on the link bridge to the car park may be able to see into your units, although this will depend on the bridge and BTO designs. For the 8th floor units on the same stacks, people walking on the car park's roof garden will likely also be able to see into your units.