In Singapore, more millennials choose to rent as values ​​change, Singapore News

When class ends at 3pm, Nat rushes from her school in eastern Singapore to her workplace 40 minutes away, where she will stand for seven hours as a waitress at a bar.

It will be around midnight before your exhausting day is over. This relentless schedule repeats itself four times a week. On weekends, the 19-year-old polytechnic student often works 12-hour shifts.

The hard-earned money is not used for excursions or shopping, but to pay her monthly rent of $ 1,050.

Since moving out of his family home in July, Nat has traded convenience for independence.

While he was previously staying in a spacious semi-detached house and had a domestic worker who took care of the housework, the house is now a small private two-bedroom apartment in eastern Singapore, equipped with only one bathroom that he shares with three housemates.

The coronavirus pandemic was the main reason behind her decision to move, as it had made her parents extremely paranoid. When Singapore imposed restrictions, they completely prohibited him from leaving the house, not even to walk around the neighborhood.

“Since everyone was so close to home every day, I was fighting a lot with my family and it escalated to a point where I just wanted to move,” said Nat, who only wanted to be known by her first name. .

Her boyfriend, Zachary Tang, stays more than four days a week and shares the rent, contributing $ 300 each month. But instead of a pandemic, their reasons for moving came from a desire to have a space to call their own.

“I just wanted the experience of being more independent,” said the 28-year-old cameraman. “Besides, how do you know that you can spend the rest of your life with someone without staying with them for a while?”

Unlike other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and China, where rent is the norm for young people moving from their places of origin to work or study in major cities, it is rare in Singapore.

Children generally remain in their family homes until they are married, as the rules for buying a home generally depend on marital status.

But amid an unprecedented pandemic, an unwavering pro-family government housing policy and a shift in traditional values, some young Singaporeans are renting their own homes in a country where home ownership rates are among the highest. high in the world.

This is despite the cost. Renting in Singapore can be expensive, with a full public flat near the city area averaging about $ 2,800. As such, the majority of this group tends to be working professionals.

“Local singles who rent flats are still a very small group; they tend to [be] young professionals whose incomes are generally at the highest level, so they can afford it, said Nicholas Mak, head of research and consulting at real estate firm ERA Realty.

The enigma of Covid-19

According to data from the Singapore Department of Statistics, more than 90 percent of the country’s population are homeowners. This is largely driven by affordable public housing, which is heavily subsidized by the government, including through schemes offering a reduction of up to $ 160,000.

But now, Covid-19 has created a new problem for potential public apartment buyers: time. When Singapore entered a partial lockdown in April, construction of ongoing housing projects was delayed for six to nine months.

Other projects will now take up to five years to build, compared to the previous three or four years.

Some, like attorney Laura Yeo, are unwilling to wait. The 26-year-old and her boyfriend decided to rent a three-bedroom apartment together with another friend, despite the fact that they had already bought an apartment that will be ready in three years. Yeo pays out $ 720 a month for her part.

“We just felt like those three years might be too long a wait to live together, and I thought it was time to get out of my comfort zone,” he said.

Professor Sing Tien Foo, Director of the Institute for Urban and Real Estate Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS), also noted that as working from home slowly becomes the norm, more people may find that living in the family home it will be less conducive. especially if they come from large households.

“If space is tight, they may want more privacy when moving into rental units. If working from home persists, young people can move out of the house and rent spaces in the short term, while they wait to buy their own houses, ”he said.

Family first, singles second

Despite Singapore’s strong homeownership record, there is one important caveat: its public housing policy greatly favors families.

Newly built flats are subsidized and prioritized for first-time couples applying for a home, who will then need to present a marriage certificate within three months of the flat’s completion date. Singles can only buy a flat when they turn 35, unless they are widowed or orphaned.

Not everyone is willing to play long-term, especially those who have no intention of getting married soon.

“Do I really need to wait until I’m 35 to be eligible to buy a [public housing] plan to do that? said Melissa Tee, 28. “I want to do that when I’m still young, and if I can afford to save some money for rent, why not?”

The senior account manager at an advertising agency has been renting a private condo for $ 2,400 since June, which she shares with a friend.

Despite complaints from some singles, this pro-family housing policy will not change, Mak said.

“The government wants young people to get married and settle quickly. They are not going to lower the age criteria, “he said. “If you reduce it to 30, some people are likely to delay marriage.”

A liberal evolution

While Singaporean society remains largely conservative, there is also a growing acceptance of coexistence in recent years.

A survey conducted by the Institute for Political Studies here showed that the percentage of Singapore residents who opposed cohabitation decreased from 46.5 percent in 2013 to 36.1 percent in 2018.

NUS sociologist Tan Ern Ser said Singapore’s economic development and growing influx were an important factor in this growing liberal vision.

“In ‘postmodern’ society, there is a change in value away from traditions and towards allowing greater choice or self-expression in the way people live their lives, and this would include living together as an acceptable option” , said.

Take Yeo’s parents, for example, who supported her in moving and becoming financially independent. “My parents are quite liberal with parents from Singapore and China, and they felt it was a good way for me to learn the value of money,” he said.

But for other parents, the idea may take some getting used to. Although four months have passed, Tang’s mother still questions her decision.

“There has been a lot of resistance and she is still complaining, but she has calmed down a lot,” Nat’s boyfriend said. Now he tries to spend more quality time with her when she is at home, instead of hiding in her room.

In fact, distance has forged closer family ties for some. Tee has noticed that his relationship with his parents has improved. Previously, they hardly spoke daily.

“When they live in the same house, they sometimes take it for granted,” he said. “Now when I come home or meet them for dinner, there is more to talk about and we appreciate the time we spend much more.”

This article was first published on the South China Morning Post.