• The Mandarin term “半独立式洋房” is a paraphrase of the English term “semi-detached house”.
• In Singapore, a semi-detached house has a land area of at least 200 square metres, and shares a common wall with the house adjacent to it either side-to-side or back-to-back.

This semi-detached house in Bukit Timah uses glass blocks to solve the problems of light, ventilation and privacy all at once. At night, the entire house lights up like a glass lantern. (Lianhe Zaobao, 19/1/2019).

In Singapore, semi-detached houses are private residences. Citizens who own Housing & Development Board (HDB) flats, Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats, or Executive Condominiums (EC) need to meet a minimum occupation period of five years before they can buy a private residence. Non-citizens need to obtain approval from the Singapore Land Authority to purchase a property.