Forum: Rental flats for life can be a new option

I asked some undergraduates to imagine what would happen if every eligible person chose to rent instead of buying an HDB flat on a 99-year lease. They were all rather sceptical of this thought experiment.

It was therefore refreshing to read a senior columnist’s opinion on rethinking the Singapore rental market (Making more room for renting as a housing option in Singapore, March 18).

Having lived, rented, and sofa-surfed in various European cities, I have always been at odds with the average Singaporean’s attitude towards renting.

My parents started married life in one rented room, moved to a one-bedroom rental flat in Tiong Bahru, and finally to a smaller two-bedroom rental flat in Tanglin Halt, where they were later given the option to purchase.

I had suggested that our pro-family government “adopt a ‘right-to-rent’ policy for Build-To-Order (BTO) couple applicants who are ready to wed and start a family” (Let rental fees paid by couples go towards BTO deposit, Feb 20, 2019). As rental income goes to the HDB, why not designate a percentage of this as “rent credit” which can be counted towards the deposit of the flat they would eventually acquire?

Later I bemoaned the loss of the “kampung spirit” when Tanglin Halt residents were decanted into the new Dawson Road estate 40 years before their 99-year leases were up, despite recent and substantial upgrading (Housing estates: Get residents’ views on redevelopment, June 9, 2021).

Ageing HDB estates is a “people problem” requiring “people solutions”. By allowing young married couples to rent in mature estates, their children will rejuvenate the estate by repopulating the kindergartens and schools.

Flats in other HDB estates are similarly being torn down within 60 years of their construction, which begs the question “Why bother with 99-year leases?” Imagine the Romans demolishing the Colosseum after just 60 years.

Returning to the first principles of the HDB to provide affordable public housing, and the impetus of reducing environmental damage in cyclical demolition and rebuilding, there is great scope in exploring again the merits of a more diverse rental landscape.

We can give Singaporeans the option of affordable rental flats for life, or simply revise up (or down) the idea of 99-year leases.

There is no need to demolish perfectly sound HDB flats. Incidentally, renting is the acceptable “Swiss standard of living”, for nearly 60 per cent of that population.

Lee Siew Peng (Dr)

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