Written Answer by Minister for Law K Shanmugam to PQ on Rental Demand for Colonial...

02 Aug 2022 Posted in Parliamentary speeches and responses

Mr Leong Mun Wai (Non-Constituency MP)

Question

To ask the Minister for Law in view of reports on $200,000 per month rental for a Queen Astrid Park good class bungalow (GCB) (a) whether there is now a greater rental demand for colonial black-and-white bungalows; (b) how many colonial black-and-white bungalows exceed 20,000 square feet in land area; and (c) what is the land size, current lease duration and monthly rental for each of these bungalows.

Written Answer:

1. Residential State Black and White (B&W) bungalows managed by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) are made available for tender through SLA's website, SPIO (State Property Information Online). The bungalows are open to all bidders who are able to meet the reserve rent which is based on the prevailing market rate as assessed by valuers.

1. SLA currently manages 262 residential State B&W bungalows which exceed 20,000 sqft in land area. As of 21 July 2022, 236 of these residential State B&W bungalows are tenanted, with a median land size of about 38,000 sqft and a median rental of about $13,000/month. These residential State B&W bungalows are typically tenanted on 2 or 3-year terms. SLA does not disclose rentals of individual bungalows but does publish the results of recent open tenders on their website for a period of time.

1. The rentals fetched depends on the state of the market. It would be unwise to compare rental fetched by a private GCB in the last few months (for example) with a B&W bungalow rented out last year or the year before. There are also many factors, other than the timing and state of the market, which affect rental values. One such factor is the state of the property. The B&W bungalows were built in the early 1900s and tenants would often need to invest in the installation of additional fittings such as air-conditioning, carpentry works, and upgrading to facilities such as kitchens and toilets. They will not have the look, facilities, and fittings which modern GCBs will have. Nonetheless, the B&W bungalows will appeal to those who do not need such modern gadgetry and fittings.

1. Ultimately the market decides on the rental. The demand for B&W bungalows has generally been better this year, compared with previous years. Larger B&W bungalows tend to have lower per sqft rental rates than smaller B&W bungalows. As of Jun 2022, occupancy rates for larger B&W bungalows are lower than those for smaller B&W bungalows.

Last updated on 02 August 2022