News

Workforces are increasingly global, and given our high levels of education and competitiveness, Singaporeans are quite in demand. This results in a number of us working abroad, anywhere from months to years at a time. But what do these Singaporeans do with their HDB flats or condos while abroad? The answer isn’t always renting. We spoke to a few Singaporeans abroad about what becomes of their home: MT is a business developer, who briefly found work in the US. Her spouse accompanied her a few months later, finding work in the same city. But there was an issue as MT received her job offer between the time of successful balloting, and the actual key collection.  “ Given the short time span, it wasn’t viable for MT or her husband to surrender their flat; but it also meant they wouldn’t be living in it for those three years. MT says that: “ MT decided not to spend the money, however, and topped up her CPF instead. She saw this as basically using the rental income to pay her flat loan. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing: “ One of our readers, who just calls himself Toh, says his family only moved back into their condo in the Changi area in 2023. This was after leaving for Melbourne in 2016, where his daughter was studying. Toh says that quite a few people have mentioned it’s “wasting money” to have left the unit vacant, but his family had reasons not to: “ Toh also has spiritual reasons for this, as the family believe that leaving the home inhabited by strangers – especially for such a long period – removes the aura and sense of belonging. Toh also says that, from time to time, the family did return to Singapore for one or two weeks at a stretch: “ CM is currently living with his parents in Sydney, and their four-bedder condo unit in Singapore is being rented out. Although it belongs to his parents, CM is in charge of renting it out and maintaining it, which he found difficult to do: “ CM eventually found a solution, in one of the better tenants he had: “ CM speculates that, because she’s older and a small business owner, she’s a bit of a natural and keeping things in order. On the advice of his realtor, an arrangement was made to have the lady stay on as a master tenant.  In effect, the other tenants are now subletting from her, whilst she pays her own rent to CM (this is an arrangement legal for private properties, but not for HDB flats).  CM is quite happy with this, as she handles most of the day-to-day issues with the other tenants; this includes approving who gets to move in. It also means CM only has to collect rent from her directly, and doesn’t need to chase or check up on each subtenant. MM and his wife are currently living in Shenzhen, where his wife’s side of the family runs a trading business. When the couple left right after Covid, they were told rental rates were at an all-time high. While they were encouraged to lease out their three-bedder condo unit in Paya Lebar, the couple decided to forego the rental income for the sake of their children: “ .” MM says it’s quite likely, however, that the condo will be sold after the children move out: “ Bann currently resides in Jakarta with his wife, who is Indonesian. His three-bedder condo unit in Singapore, which he describes as “close to Newton,” is being rented. The unusual twist is that the tenant is his own son, who just turned 25 and joined the workforce this year. Bann says he charges her “less than the market rate” for the condo, and that he’s free to sublet it if he wants: “ Bann’s other reason for doing this is that, at some point in future, he intends to leave his properties to his son – and learning how to manage tenanted properties early will save him from expensive mistakes later. Bann has no definite plans on when he’ll return from Jakarta, but he says that – if his son moves out – he will likely move back to Singapore to use the place for himself.  For more homeowner experiences in the Singapore property market, follow us on .