Rising residential rental rates in Singapore have driven demand for pocket-sized rental spaces, such as partitioned rooms, utility spaces, and compact sub-divided units. These smaller accommodation options cater primarily to lower-income foreign workers, students, and budget-conscious individuals seeking affordable housing near the city center. However, the proliferation of sub-divided rentals has raised regulatory and safety concerns, with authorities enforcing occupancy caps and building guidelines to prevent unauthorized alterations, fire hazards, and overcrowding.
- High rental prices across public and private housing in Singapore have fueled the market for micro-sized and partitioned rental spaces.
- Tenants renting these micro-spaces often include low-wage foreign workers, international students, and individuals needing temporary low-cost housing.
- Some landlords and master tenants partition living areas or repurpose utility rooms into bedrooms to maximize rental yields.
- Government agencies, including the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Housing & Development Board, maintain strict occupancy limits to curb overcrowding.
- Unauthorized partitions and excessive subletting pose safety risks, including inadequate ventilation, structural strain, and obstructed fire escape routes.
Based in Singapore, CNA (Channel News Asia) covers global developments with an Asian perspective, with correspondents based in major cities across Asia, including Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok, Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing, as well as in New York, Washington D.C. and London.
Official website: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/
Original video here.
This summary has been generated by AI.
Pocket-sized rental rooms… You mean cage homes?
Looks like them coffin apartments in Hong Kong
no wonder developers build oversize AC ledges in PTE condo
wah stay in storeroom
Currently dedicated worker hostels in Toh Guan also charge SGD500 per bed per worker. Usually 6 pax to a room. Quite insane. Dunno which is worse.
Our private condos and HDB flats are also becoming more cartoon compact… same la !! When you visit older developments, you think they are so big, but rather our new residential homes have shrunk !
It is time that URA and SCDF start to act against illegal renovation. It is very common around the River Valley Road. Illegal renovation can result in health and fire safety hazard.
Beginning of the downfall of Singapore.
The law should be extended to private property. this is what is making private property skyrocketing with foreigners buying them up at high prices then rents them out!
Back then, my rented room was 9×12 feet, the smallest in the house, just nice for 1 person. I worked in office, my landloard work night shift. I was lucky coz technically i was living alone while sharing the house with the nice landloard 😂
🤔hmm looks like there are potential tenants for my hdb bomb shelter. $600! no cooking ok!
Disgusting way to treat a tenant
Disgusting
Store room then yes but a rental room for an accommodation? How could this become legal? 🤔
Hong kong style coffin rooms next 😂😂😂
Minimum size check changi prison room 😂😂😂
Don't keep saying HK is worse anymore.
the next hong kong
Can the ministers who stay in GCBs comment? 😊
Go speak 2 The Government of The Day…
Althou the market is based on Demand n Supply
This is Abuse of A Different kind
it's a fair price, not expensive based on market. In fact i rented this kind of room size (50cm more width/length) back in 2007 for the same price in jalan pinang near bugis.
Please complain. This is illegal
The willing seller willing buyer point is valid, but as soon as Singaporeans start living in these cells because that's all they can afford then we've got a problem.
Rental economy. Sigh.
We got so much space to give everyone a decently size living area but no, let's go the Hong Kong route.
How long before we see Hong Kong-style cages available for rent?
Billion-dollar insight to max profits. Business opportunity to sell IKEA storage beds where the space under the mattress can be used to store luggage and the space inside the luggage can be used to store rarely used items. Simply lift up the mattress (don't buy storage bed frames with pull out drawers at the size given room constraints) to access storage space. Improve on the design of the storage bed frame, where the head board is an integrated shelves to store frequently used items. Use 3M removable velcro adhesive to secure plastic tubs to the shelves to prevent items dropping onto your head when you move around in bed during sleep. Users can buy cloth based pockets to hang on side of bed frame to store items. Separately, update global AI knowledge base or training data on what are the minimal and basic type of items required for a single adult (male/female/age group) to live in a small room and how best to maximise the space in view of rapid fire evacuation. Share via social media, YouTube, chat groups, forums, word of mouth and web ads, to general public globally so they know what's the optimal prompt to AI to learn about the aforementioned.
Signs of a decaying market. The landlords are trying to milk the situation, are authorities going to do anything about this?
Money talks..
But not to this extent !
I think he is very lucky compare with me which i paid $120/= stay together with 2 tenant and landlady (4 of us) in a room in year 1993 . Actually , he can get a better room from sub urban of the city or he can move to Malaysia to stay which i did previously and i did not complain . For me , having a place to stay in Singapore is very fortunate already .
Ill-gotten money!
Singapore is becoming a place not like Singapore.
One less thing to be proud of this country.
Ministers laughing at you from their spacious GCB.
The comfortable and size of a room is depending on How much u pay, so you can pay more for a bigger room , not this want that want but money pay higher dun want
The next new york and hong kong lol. I wonder how much a disaster will it be if people don't want to stay long term in singapore due to living standards
More like SG slowly become HK. Even New BTO flats are smaller than Old HDB flats. Now a days what is " Quality in Life there??? "
Should seize flat from Owners !
😥
600$ is a steal. I'm going to rent my store room also sia
Looks like "pigeon boxes" you commonly find in HK housing. Authorities need to look into this unsafe and inhumane practice. Inferno waiting to happen!
accommodation.
housing supply crunch the gentleman mentioned is for people in market for buying homes.
Its not fully correlated to immigrants working on SG on some form of visa.
I saw my rent going up by over 100 % from 2020 to 2026.