Foreigners living in Singapore have been having a tough time in the rental market recently.
Besides having to grapple with steep rental increases, some have also complained about landlords with bizarre restrictions.
However, a Malaysian living in Bukit Panjang said that his HDB room rental of S$700 monthly has stayed unchanged for the last six years despite rental prices going up all over the island.
Source: Steven Chong on Facebook
He also has no limits on aircon usage and cooking.
Thus, he said he’s lucky to have found a good landlord.
In a Facebook post on Thursday (16 Mar) in the 人在狮城漂 (Floating in the Lion City) Facebook group, Malaysian Steven Chong shared that he’s been living in Singapore for seven years.
During that time, he’s moved twice — something apparently quite normal for foreigners who rent.
However, he’s already stayed at his current place for six years, he said.
From the photo he shared of his block, it appears that he lives in Segar Meadows, an estate off Segar Road in Bukit Panjang.
Source: Google Maps
The reason for Mr Chong’s relatively lengthy stay is his landlords, who are a young Singaporean couple, he said.
Listing out their positive traits, he put “freedom” at the top of the list.
Next is the fact that there are no limits imposed on tenants’ usage of air-conditioning. Of course, they don’t abuse this by overusing it, he added.
Neither are there any limits on cooking — as long as the quantity isn’t too large and the food isn’t too strong-smelling.
Mr Chong then described how his landlords go out of their way to accommodate him and his co-tenant.
When it comes to washing machine usage, each tenant is allowed three washing days, he said.
So the landlords chose to do their laundry on Sundays, when the two tenants go back to Malaysia, leaving the other six days for the tenants to do their laundry.
Source: Leroy Tan on Unsplash, for illustration purposes only.
That’s “so accommodating”, he added, adding crying emojis for emphasis.
Perhaps most generous of all is that their landlords have already changed their double bed twice during the period they’ve stayed there.
Both those times, they got to sleep on a brand-new bed for free, as the landlord paid for it in full.
The reason is that they felt that after three years, bacteria would accumulate and it wouldn’t be good for their health.
All the above alone would qualify them to be good landlords. But Mr Chong also said that incredibly, he and his co-tenant are paying just S$700 a month for their room.
That includes water, electricity and the Internet, and it hasn’t gone up by a cent since they moved in six years ago.
This is despite people telling him that a double room with all utilities included should cost around S$800 to S$950.
Source: Google Maps
The day before, one of his landlords remarked that rental prices have been increasing like crazy lately.
When he heard this, Mr Chong was mentally prepared for a rent hike.
However, he was surprised when his landlord actually assured him that their rent would not go up.
That’s because they knew that it’s not easy living away from one’s hometown, and they have many responsibilities.
They also understand that it would be tiring for them to live in Johor Bahru and cross the Causeway and back every day.
Mr Chong said his landlord’s words really warmed his heart.
He gratefully added that it really isn’t easy for people who’ve left their hometown to find such good landlords.
Better still, the flat was brand-new when they moved in, and they were the landlords’ very first tenants.
Thus, he considered himself very lucky.
After reading so many stories of bad landlords, he hoped netizens would share some positive traits of their landlords too.
According to a report by TODAY, private rental prices in Singapore jumped by 29.7% in 2022 — the highest annual increase in about 16 years.
Thus, as rental prices continue to climb in the coming months, finding a place with unchanged rent is really a blessing.
Kudos to Mr Chong’s landlords for being easy-going and understanding. They’re living proof that it’s possible to prioritise people rather than profits.
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Featured image adapted from Steven Chong on Facebook.
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