In Singapore, more millennials are choosing to rent as values shift

[The_King]

• A lack of privacy triggered by the Covid-19 lockdown, long wait times for new flats and changing values are some reasons driving young professionals to rent
• While society remains largely conservative, Singapore’s rising affluence is leading to a growing acceptance of cohabitation, an expert says

 

 

 

When class ends at 3pm, Nat rushes from her school in 

Singapore

’s east to her workplace 40 minutes away, where she’ll be on her feet for seven hours as a waitress at a bar.

It‘ll be close to midnight before her exhausting day ends. This relentless schedule repeats four times a week. On weekends, the 19-year-old polytechnic student often puts in 12-hour work shifts.

The hard-earned money is not used for outings or shopping purchases, but to pay her monthly rent of S$1,050 (US$770).

 

Since moving out of her family home in July, Nat has traded comfort for independence. While she previously stayed in a spacious semi-detached house and had a domestic worker doing the household chores, home is now a small two-bedroom private apartment in the east of Singapore, equipped only with a single toilet that she shares with three housemates.

 

 

The coronavirus pandemic was the major reason behind her decision to move out, as it had caused her parents to be extremely paranoid. When Singapore imposed restrictions, they banned her from leaving the house completely – not even for walks around the neighbourhood.

 

“With everyone being in such close proximity at home every day, I was fighting with my family a lot, and it escalated to a point when I just wanted to move out,” said Nat, who only wished to be known by her first name.

Some young Singaporeans are choosing to rent their own homes in a nation with one of the world’s highest home ownership rates. Photo: Roy Issa

Her boyfriend, Zachary Tang, stays over four days a week, and shares the rent by chipping in S$300 every month. But instead of a pandemic, his reasons for moving out came from a desire to have a space to call his own.

 

“I just wanted the experience of being more independent,” said the 28-year-old videographer. “Also, how do you know you can spend the rest of your life with someone without staying with them for a while?”

 

Unlike other countries in Asia like Japan, South Korea, and China where renting is the norm for young people who move away from their hometowns to work or study in major cities, it is uncommon in Singapore. Children typically stay in their family homes until they get married, as the rules for buying a home usually depends on one’s marital status.

 

But amid an unprecedented pandemic, an unyielding pro-family government 

housing

 policy, and a shifting of traditional values, some young Singaporeans are renting their own homes in a country where home ownership rates are one of the highest in the world.

 

This is despite the cost. Renting in Singapore can be expensive, with an entire public flat near the city area averaging about S$2,800. As such, the majority of this group tend to be working professionals.

“Local singles renting flats still remain a very small group – they tend to [be] young professionals whose incomes are generally in the higher bracket so they can afford it, said Nicholas Mak, head of research and consultancy at real estate firm ERA Realty.

Laura Yeo, a lawyer, rents a three-bedroom flat in Singapore with her boyfriend and another flatmate. Photo: Handout

The Covid-19 conundrum

According to data from Singapore’s Department of Statistics, more than 90 per cent of the country’s population are homeowners. This is fuelled largely by affordable public housing, which is heavily subsidised by the government, including through schemes that offer a reduction of up to S$160,000.

 

But now, Covid-19 has created a new problem for prospective public flat buyers: time. When Singapore entered a partial lockdown in April, the construction of ongoing housing projects was delayed by six to nine months. Other projects will now take up to five years to be built, as compared to three or four years previously.

 

Some, like lawyer Laura Yeo, are unwilling to wait. The 26-year-old and her boyfriend decided to rent a three-bedroom flat together with another friend, even though they had already bought a flat that will be ready in three years. Yeo coughs up S$720 a month for her share.

 

“We just felt like those three years might be too long a wait to live together, and I just figured it was time to move out of my comfort zone,” she said.

Professor Sing Tien Foo, director of the Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS), also noted that as working from home slowly becomes the norm, more may find that living in the family home will be less conducive especially if they come from large households.

 

“If space is cramped, they may want more privacy by moving out to rental units. If working from home persists, young people may move out of the house and rent spaces in the short term, while waiting to buy their own houses,” he said.

In Singapore, housing policies favour married couples and families. Photo: EPA-EFE

Family first, singles second

Despite Singapore’s strong track record of home ownership, there is a major caveat: its public housing policy heavily favours families.

 

Newly-built flats are subsidised and prioritised for first-time couples applying for a home, who will then need to produce a marriage certificate within three months of the flat’s completion date. Singles can only buy a flat when they turn 35, unless they are widowed or orphaned.

Not all of them are willing to play the long game – especially those who have no intentions of getting married soon.

Advertising agency worker Melissa Tee, 28, shares a condo unit with a friend. Photo: Handout

“Do I really need to wait until I’m 35 to be eligible to buy a [public housing] flat to do that?” said Melissa Tee, 28. “I want to do that when I’m still young, and if I can afford to set aside some money for rent, then why not?”

The senior account manager at an advertising agency has been renting a private condominium for S$2,400 since June, which she shares with a friend.

Despite the gripes of some singles, this pro-family housing policy will not change, noted Mak.

“The government wants young people to get married and settle down quickly. They are not going to lower the age criteria,” he said. “If you lower it to 30, the chances are that some people will delay marriage.”

Singapore’s growing affluence is a major factor for a growing acceptance of cohabitation, an expert says. Photo: Reuters

A liberal evolution

While Singapore society still remains largely conservative, there is also an increasing acceptance of cohabitation in recent years.

A survey done by the Institute of Policy Studies here showed that the percentage of Singapore residents who opposed cohabitation decreased from 46.5 per cent in 2013, to 36.1 per cent in 2018.

NUS sociologist Tan Ern Ser said that Singapore’s economic development and growing affluence was a major factor for this increased liberal view. “In ‘postmodern’ society, there is a value shift away from traditions and towards allowing for greater choice or self-expression in how people live their lives, and this would include cohabitation as an acceptable option,” he said.

 

 

Take Yeo’s parents for example, who were supportive of her moving out and becoming financially independent. “My parents are quite liberal for Singaporean-Chinese parents, and they felt it was a good way for me to learn the value of money,” she said.

But for other parents, the idea may take a time to get used to. Although it has been four months, Tang’s mother still questions his decision. “There has been a lot of resistance and she is still complaining, but it has settled down a lot,” said Nat’s boyfriend. He tries to spend more quality time with her when at home now, instead of being holed up in his room.

In fact, distance has actually forged closer familial ties for some. Tee has noticed that her relationship with her parents have improved. Previously, they hardly spoke on a daily basis.

“When you are living in the same house, you sometimes take each other for granted,” she said. “Now when I go back home or meet them for dinners, there is more to talk about and we cherish the time spent a lot more.”

[The_King]

[socrates469bc]

kim kia aka kgk xdd @HarrisY can ask tony to invest in a unit in paya lebar residences.

 

can tell tony u stay there as jaga pending it to be rented out.

 

wahahahahhahaha

[The_King]

3 minutes ago, socrates469bc said:

kim kia aka kgk xdd @HarrisY can ask tony to invest in a unit in paya lebar residences.

 

can tell tony u stay there as jaga pending it to be rented out.

 

wahahahahhahaha

dont give him idea. wait he turn the condo into this

 

 

 

 

his war chest

[HarrisY]

37 minutes ago, socrates469bc said:

kim kia aka kgk xdd @HarrisY can ask tony to invest in a unit in paya lebar residences.

 

can tell tony u stay there as jaga pending it to be rented out.

 

wahahahahhahaha

Den ask my atb gf to move in? Wahaha

[XianGe]

KGK kgb wasting$$$ away by renting..