By Serene Luo

HOME owners looking to buy a condominium within the next few years may soon find themselves in a squeeze when it comes to parking their cars at home.

A Straits Times survey of 26 condominiums launched or built after 2005 showed carparks are getting smaller, with some even falling below a government standard of at least one lot per unit.

About 50 per cent of the condominiums surveyed will have just one lot for each unit - plus not more than 5 per cent of extra lots - when completed.

Some malls make the most of their carparks

SEVERAL shopping malls have been converting parts of their carparks to other uses over the past few years as well.

For instance, about one-quarter of the lots in Hougang Mall and the White Sands Mall in Pasir Ris were converted to retail use in 2006 and last year respectively.

The spaces became shops and facilities, such as travellators, nursing rooms and children's play areas, after the authorities relaxed lot rules for commercial buildings near MRT stations, said Ms Stephanie Ho, deputy general manager of AsiaMalls Management, the buildings' management.

Enough HDB parking? 465,000 cars, 697,500 lots

THERE are no hard and fast rules that govern parking lot numbers in HDB estates, unlike private estates.

The Housing and Development Board, in response to Straits Times queries, said it would consider two factors: the type of flat and the number of flats built in the precinct.

Public housing is not covered under the Land Transport Authority's parking provision standards, which say residential units should generally have one lot each.

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