Netizens are criticising Singapore’s public rental housing for low-income singles, likening it to dormitories due to shared toilets, although the government claims that the initiative has received encouraging response from tenants.
National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on March 20 that at present, about 400 tenants have taken up the Single Room Shared Facilities (SRSF) public rental housing pilot since its launch in 2023.
The new housing, located at the former Anderson Junior College hostel on Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, has a total occupancy of 480 tenants.
Lee said the rental scheme is designed for low-income singles, which aims to give tenants “greater privacy” by providing them a private room, though they have to share common facilities.
The room comes with a bed frame, wardrobe, table, wall shelves, and a small fridge. For the facilities, tenants will share toilets, kitchens, laundry, and activity rooms.
Lee stated that the SRSF is designed to complement another housing option for low-income singles, known as the Joint Singles Scheme Operator-Run (JSS-OR) flats, a rental housing model that pairs singles to share a semi-partitioned rental flat.
Under the JSS-OR scheme, singles can apply to share a semi-partitioned rental flat without needing to find a flatmate. The operator will assign them flatmates, taking into consideration their profiles, preferences, and living habits.
Lee said the JSS-OR trial has received positive feedback from tenants. The trial was expanded from three to six sites in September 2023, which are located in Bedok, Buangkok, Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Bidadari, and Sengkang.
The JSS-OR rental housing can accommodate up to 1,000 tenants. Lee said the government plans to build “close to 5,000 more new public rental flats” by 2030.
“We will do more to help low-income households get access to public rental flats as they work towards regaining stability and self-reliance,” he stated.
Netizens complain about shared-toilets
Many Facebook users commenting on The Straits Times’ post have criticized the SRSF public rental housing model, calling it dorm-like due to shared toilets. Some even described the housing model as “depressing looking.”
One netizen voiced concerns about the shared toilets, comparing them to those in coffee shops, where “toilets cleanliness is hard to maintain.”
Another commenter criticised the idea of shared toilets, noting that each tenant should have their own toilet for hygiene purposes.
One commenter criticised the housing model as “increasingly patronising,” while sarcastically suggesting that the government’s future developments might resemble “chicken coops” to promote community living.
One netizen said that the government has “totally lost touch with the ground,” criticising the housing model for its lack of privacy due to shared facilities.
The user opined that the government could have designed smaller rooms with a private toilet for tenants.
One commenter criticised the wording used to describe the SRSF rental scheme, suggesting that it was phrased to sound positive when, in reality, low-income singles are simply renting units at “government-discounted prices.”
Another user criticised the government for labelling such initiatives as meant for “low-income” groups.
The user suggested that many Singaporeans choose to buy from budget-friendly companies, yet such companies do not market their products as being for low-income buyers.
One commenter pointed out that some tenants might not actually be living in these rental flats and could instead be subletting them to foreigners.
The user highlighted the issue of rental flat tenants subletting their units while living with their families and questioned whether HDB is taking action against such cases.
One user alleged that “many China people” are subletting a three-room HDB flat to 16 tenants, with six people in each room and four in the living room, charging $500 per tenant.
One commenter wrote that government officials are living in large black-and-white bungalows but place low-income people in rental flats with shared toilets.
Another commenter criticised the ministers for offering such “small HDB rental flats” with shared amenities as a means to help the locals, while they live in private estates.
PSP’s proposed solutions to housing problems
Back in February 2023, Leong Mun Wai of Progress Singapore Party (PSP) proposed two housing schemes–namely the “Affordable Homes Scheme” and the “Millennial Apartments Scheme”–to resolve Singapore’s public housing issues.
The “Affordable Homes Scheme” aimed to make public housing more affordable by allowing buyers to buy HDB flats at a “user price”–covering only the construction cost and a notional location premium.
Under this scheme, if the owner sells the flat in the resale market after the Minimum Occupation Period, he or she will have to pay the land cost with accrued interest based on historical mortgage rates to the Past Reserves before pocketing the net profit.
The “Millennial Apartments Scheme” aimed to provide young Singaporeans with “smaller” yet “quality flats” on affordable leases of 2 to 5 years, equipped with amenities and convenience.
Leong proposed that these apartments be located in “prime locations” near the Central Business District–which he said are highly sought after by buyers driven by profit motives.
Both proposals were rejected by Lee during the 9 February 2023 parliamentary sitting, as the minister claimed that the PSP’s ideas “do not address today’s problems and certainly do not address tomorrow’s problems.”
Lee rolled out the SRSF pilot at the end of 2023.
The post Netizens slam Govt’s public rental housing for low-income singles, likening it to dorms appeared first on The Online Citizen.
