No_4_March_and_April__1949 — Page 51

HONGKONG 861.00000

BUNGALOW

CURRENCY

月

The front elevation of the bungalow, showing position of entrance hall, garage and servants' quarters.

View of the rear elevation facing the garden.

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At various times during the past year or two, the ques- tion was raised, publicly and privately, as to why private in- terests, on their own, or assisted by Government, have not developed building schemes for moderate sized bungalows which could be built and sold, preferably on extended terms, to assist in providing accommodation for middle-class re- sidents of Hong Kong. These queries by a section of the public most seriously affected by the lack of accommodation for themselves and their families, seem to indicate a wide. spread belief in the possibility of erecting four and five- roomed buildings for $20-$30,000. On this basis, provided the necessary financial encouragement is given, it should be possible to provide this accommodation at a rental of $150 to $200 per month as a fair return on investment. Alternatively, these buildings could be sold on a basis of $400 to $500 per month over a period of years.

This premise is all right in theory, provided these bunga- lows, or equivalent accomodation in flats, could be provided for as low as $30,000.

As a matter of public interest, we have been investigating building costs of small residential construction, and we have

had plans drawn up of various size buildings and have work- ed out what we consider the lowest schedule of prices possible under the present day conditions.

We publish with this article a simple design of bungalow containing living room, dining room, two bedrooms each with a bathroom, small study, one-car garage, pantry and kitchen, and the usual servants' accommodation. The price works out to $61,000 and, while certain reductions can be made in ac- commodation which will reduce the cost, we doubt very much whether this amount could be reduced to less than $55- $57,000. This figure represents the cost of the building alone; the value of the land, plus the cost of site formation work which must, of course, include access road, sewage and drainage, light and power lines and waterpiping, will add at least another $15,000, figuring a minimum of 7500 square feet of land at $2.00 per square foot, including site formation work.

The absolute minimum total cost, therefore, of a two- bedroom accommodation would be $70,000, which could only be provided under the most favourable circumstances.

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Plan of the bungalow.