The S$700 storeroom: Inside Singapore's market for 'pocket-sized' rentals
Amid high rents, some tenants are trading floor space for location and lower costs.
In Singapore, a growing trend exists for tenants to rent extremely small rooms, ranging from utility rooms to bomb shelters. These "pocket rooms" have become a popular choice due to the high rental costs in the city-state. Mr. Jao Santos, a 48-year-old building information modelling coordinator, pays S$700 plus utilities for a 2.9 square meter room in Geylang.
He was willing to give up space and pay more for the convenience of air-conditioning. The practice appears to have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, as border restrictions lifted and young locals began looking for their own rental space. Private condominiums are more likely to have these small rooms for rental, as there are no restrictions on subdividing HDB flats.
PropertyGuru, the largest property listings platform in Singapore, has seen a significant increase in listings for rooms of 100 square feet or smaller, while the proportion of rooms priced above S$1,000 has nearly doubled.
Written by urgent.news from CNA - Singapore's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- The S$700 storeroom: Inside Singapore's market for 'pocket-sized' rentals channelnewsasia.com
