Source: Shin Min Daily News & Singapore Real Estate Exchange
A woman in Singapore, who had just started a new job and was in urgent need of an apartment, ended up renting a so-called “coffin room” after hastily paying the landlord S$900 for it.
She did not view the unit beforehand, which turned out to be a painful mistake.
Her sister, 41-year-old Ms Liu, told Shin Min Daily News that the unit had been divided into four cramped rooms and was being sublet to at least 14 tenants.
Ms Liu revealed that her sister rented a bed space last month in a flat on the second floor of Block 501, Jurong West Street 51.
However, when she moved in, she discovered that the person she had dealt with was actually a sub-landlord, who had partitioned the unit and rented it out to at least 14 tenants for profit.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
She said her sister came to Singapore from China in mid-August to work at a beauty salon in Jurong West.
Through a friend’s introduction, she rented a bed space for S$450 a month, mainly to have a registered address.
“Eager to secure a place near work and under pressure from her employer, she paid the landlord S$900 without even viewing the room,” claims Ms Liu, who added that the amount included one month of rent and one month’s deposit.
Ms Liu said her sister was shocked to find more than 10 people crammed into the three-room flat.
“There were four rooms inside in total,” she added.
“Two of them housed six people each, another was occupied by a man and a woman, while it was unclear how many lived in the last room.”
According to the photos she provided, the unit had been partitioned with panels, leaving only a narrow passageway.
Clothes hung from windows, and the walls and bathroom floor were filthy.
One of the rooms contained three bunk beds, with towels or sheets used as makeshift curtains for privacy.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Ms Liu said the unit was cluttered, with shoes and suitcases in the hallway and bottles on the fridge.
She described the conditions as “just too harsh” and even “unlivable”.
Ms Liu said her sister stayed in the house for about 10 days, but, unable to bear the filth, she quickly moved out.
“She didn’t even have time to get her rent back,” added Ms Liu.
Ms Liu said her sister’s bed was in the master bedroom, but the windows could not be opened, and she had to share the common toilet with all the other tenants.
The room was stuffy and smelled musty, while the shared bathroom was filthy, and tenants had to queue for showers.
Several corridor windows were tightly shut or covered, hiding the interior, while clothes were hung outside to dry.
The HDB block has four floors, with shops and eateries on the ground level and apartments above.
The above-mentioned unit on the second floor also has no visible unit number, making it hard to spot.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
When asked if they were aware of the situation, a third-floor resident said: “They must be using the stairs without passing our floor, so we really have no clue what’s happening.”
According to Shin Min Daily News, the alleged sub-landlord first admitted to renting the unit.
However, she retracted the statement after learning that the caller was a reporter.
When asked if she knew renting the flat to multiple tenants was illegal, she refused to comment and hung up.
According to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), from 2024 to 2026, four-room or larger HDB flats can house up to eight unrelated tenants, while smaller units remain limited to four to six.
Also read: S’pore landlord finds condoms & hair ties in rented apartment, suspects unit was used as vice den
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News & Singapore Real Estate Exchange.