AKIPRESS.COM - Singapore has announced stricter guidelines on the maximum number of units in new blocks of private flats and condominiums in a move to tackle what authorities have called “excessive development of shoebox units” in the island-state, Reuters reports.

Shares of some real estate firms, including City Developments, UOL Group and Oxley Holdings, fell in Thursday morning trade, underperforming the broader market.

The new rules reduce “developers’ leeway to prop up profit margins by launching smaller units,” said Christine Li, head of Singapore research at consultancy Cushman and Wakefield.

The guidelines apply to applications for developments outside the city’s central area received on or after Jan. 17 next year. They tighten rules first introduced in 2012.

Singapore this year unveiled its strongest property cooling measures in five years, including extra taxes on developers that had been paying record sums to buy land for residential use.

The new guidelines also added more areas of the island where the maximum number of units are calculated by total area divided by 100 square meters.