What does HDB stand for? What is a Landed Property? Here's a quick summary of the property types available in Singapore, which answers these questions and introduces you the local property jargon.
AirBnB alert: AirBnB and short-term rents are illegal in Singapore. Authorities have the right to force their way into private homes to check whether residents are renting them out illegally and you could be evicted at any time during your stay.
AirBnB alert: AirBnB and short-term rents are illegal in Singapore. Authorities have the right to force their way into private homes to check whether residents are renting them out illegally and you could be evicted at any time during your stay.
HDB Flats
85% of Singapore residents live in these Housing Development Board (HDB) flats built by the Singapore government. Though, they are classified as public housing, the standards are much higher than what you would find in the UK or France. Some of the newer developments compete with condominiums in terms of luxury and amenities. Rooms go for as little as S$600 per person. Plus, you get the benefit of living with a local family. Furthermore, HDBs have a host of amenities within walking distance, namely MRT stations, bus stops, markets, supermarkets, shopping malls, and sports facilities. You can rent a room for durations above 6 months.
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Condominiums
Condos are the favourite place for expats to stay. It holds apartments separated in
different units that share common areas and offer many facilities such as gardens, rooftops, swimming pools, tennis courts, gyms, KTV (karaoke rooms), BBQ areas. This is the main advantage of living in a condominium, but you pay a much higher rent. In these apartments you can differentiate master bedrooms (that are bigger and with a en-suite bathroom) from other bedrooms. Minimum contract period for condominiums is 3 months and you can rent either a room or a whole apartment. For rental rates of condos, please click here |
Landed Properties
Landed Property or Houses are pretty common in most parts of the world. But in land scarce Singapore, it is viewed by many locals as the housing equivalent of reaching the top tiers of the society’s social ladder. Less than 5% of the population live in landed property.
While admittedly high maintenance, landed properties are unrivaled in terms of their sheer size, spacious living quarters and privacy. Types include bungalows, semi-detached houses, terrace houses, shop-houses, cluster houses and townhouses. |
Co-Living
Co-living is the trend of living with many other people in one space that encourages its residents to interact and work together. They are most often run by companies and have popped up in response to the huge number of young people moving to expensive cities in search of work. Co-living is a new kind of modern housing where residents with shared interests, intentions, and values share a living space where they're almost like a big family.
Co-living is built on the concept of openness and collaboration, with the residents often sharing similar philosophical values. |
Serviced Apartments
Serviced apartments are self contained apartments available to rent from as little as one night, or for over a year. They are 100% dedicated, professionally-operated apartments, that have their own guest services and maintenance teams (not individual landlords looking to make some extra money – which means high standards for business travellers can be met.. consistently.
They sit in between Hotels and traditional long term rental contracts. Like a hotel, you can shorten, extend or cancel your stay with minimum notice. As a bare minimum, serviced apartments are fully furnished and equipped. All you need if your luggage. Towels, ben linen, Wi-Fi and TV subscriptions, Utility bills, regular house-keeping and an on call maintenance team are all taken care of and included in one simple nightly or monthly rate. No big contracts and no hefty deposits. |
Hostels
The least expensive option you can consider in Singapore. For about SGD 500 to 700 per month you can share a room with another student. For example, the student residence located on the MDIS campus offer interesting deals near the Queenstown station. However, you usually have to share the bathroom with other students and you usually are not allowed to cook. Think of it as a very interesting way to save some money in order to invest in other activities, but there is little privacy. Hostel rooms are recommended for short stays i.e. 3 months or less. They could also come in handy if you are planning to find housemates after arriving in Singapore.
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