You may have come across different terminologies used for landed homes in Malaysia. The terminology used differs for different countries and you may be pleasantly confused at times. To provide you with more clarity, we have compiled a list of terms commonly used by property developers in Malaysia so you have a rough idea of what each may mean.
Types of houses and their definition
- Terrace House
- Townhouse / Co-Living
- Superlink / Superlink Terrace
- Cluster Homes / Linked Semi-D
- Semi-Detached
- Zero-Lot
- Bungalow / Villa
Terrace House (aka Link House)
The most common home type in Malaysia is probably terrace houses. Terrace Houses are basically homes that are built side-by-side each other and are usually in rows. They share two common walls with the neighbour on the right and on the left, in a way sandwiched in between. Terrace houses come in single-storey, double-storey, three-storey and sometimes beyond three-storey. For the end-lot and corner-lot terrace houses, they will only have one shared wall and comes with an open garden on the other end.
Townhouse / Co-Living
A townhouse is usually characterized by two homes sharing the same piece of land – in essence, one of it is built on top of the other, either in full or partially. Let me explain this in detail. There are townhouses that are two-storey and each floor is a different home. The ground floor unit shares half of the driveway, and the upper-floor unit takes the other half of the driveway with a stairway that leads to their unit. If the size of your home is 20 feet in width, your driveway would be half of that because the other would be shared with your neighbour. Interestingly, developers are coming up with newer ways to make townhouse living chic and modern – some with three-storey so each unit is essentially two-storey. Thus one unit will be ground and third floor, while the other unit will be the first and second floor. Depending on the property, the configurations may differ. Recently we noticed Ecoworld’s project using the term “Co-Living” to depict two families living under one same roof – which is essentially still two different houses.
SuperLink / SuperLink Terrace
SuperLink has the same characteristics as Terrace Houses but with a width of at least 24 feet. Usually, a developer that uses the term Superlink refers to a more premium version of terrace houses as the width of the homes are usually 24 feet or more. An example would be Gamuda Cove’s Delta homes in Palma Sands which at least 28 feet in width for intermediate units and up to 38 feet for corner lots. If you like spacious homes with wider widths, superlink homes would be what you should be looking for. Below is an artist impression of Valeria Garden Homes.
Cluster Homes / Linked Semi-D
Cluster Homes refer to homes that are linked with two of their neighbors – the back and one side, which the other side is open garden space. Cluster Homes comes in 4’s, and thus the name ‘cluster’. From the outer front look, they look like Semi-Detached homes. Gamuda Gardens has creatively given the name Linked Semi-D to Jovita which are 35″x70″ homes with are clustered in fours. Interestingly, Jovita’s layouts are very interesting with up to 6 bedrooms for the largest built-up! Below is how Jovita looks like.
Semi-Detached
Semi-Detached homes refer to homes that are in 2’s – each are connected with each other on one side of the wall. Compared to Cluster Homes, Semi-Detached usually have larger garden space on the sides and are only connected on one wall with the neighbor. Usually Semi-Detached houses are more premium and are larger in size. Below is an artist illustration of Semi Detached houses at Monarc, Gamuda Gardens Esteem.
Zero-Lot
Zero-Lot is a new term used by developers, and they are essentially the same as Semi-Detached homes. Zero-Lot homes look like bungalow because they are usually a stand-alone structure. The only difference is that zero-lot bungalow only has an open garden on one side of the home. To make it easy to understand, you just need to imagine a semi-detached (or semidee) home that is flipped to the other side so that each is not connected to each other.
Bungalow / Villa
Bungalow is the most premium of all landed houses. They are stand-alone structures with land on all four sides. The term bungalow and villas are used interchangeably and refer to the same type of housing. These types of homes offer the most privacy, usually are larger and gives you more flexibility to create your desired living space. Both Gamuda Gardens and Gamuda Cove have launched exclusive bungalows in their respective townships. Do check it out!
Mansion
I like to call these Super Bungalows. They are generally a bungalow but much larger in size and exclusivity. Probably has a very large land area and equipped with upmarket features like swimming pool, external guest house, and more. Mansions are usually very fancy and you can find these in prestigious addresses like Damansara Heights, Bangsar, Bukit Tunku, Glenmarie, etc – just to name a few.
Farm House / Orchard
This type of house comes with a large piece of land that has an actual farm in it – it can be fruit trees, vegetable farm, or farm animals (chicken, goat, cow etc). Think of it as a large piece of land of at least one acre that has a house in it. This type of property is classified as farm house.
What is your ideal type of landed house?
Now that you know the difference between the different terminologies used in Malaysia housing developments, it is time to start looking for the right type of home that suit your lifestyle requirements and budget. If you’d like to know more about the latest property launches in Gamuda Gardens, drop an enquiry below.
