When the first point blocks were constructed in 1970, these four and five-room flats in 20-storey blocks were between 84 and 125 square metres. In the 1980s, four rooms were roughly 105 square metres and five rooms had a floor area of about 123 square metres. With average household sizes around 4.6 per apartment at the time, the living space per person was around 23-27 square metres .
If you're buying a freshly MOPed HDB flat from the resale market, chances are there wouldn't be that much size difference with a BTO flat. Unfortunately, even if you own a freehold property, the government is allowed to reclaim the land for vital infrastructure or security reasons. Even if you disagree with it, you'll have to pack up and move. There have been a few freehold properties which went for a collective sale - High Point and The Beaumont to name a few.