Singapore condo owners add rooms to earn more rent

SINGAPORE: With rents continuing to rise in 2023, property investors have found a quick way to earn more rent by simply carving out more rooms in their condominium units.

The Sunday Times found several apartments turned into co-living spaces at People’s Park Complex, Eastpoint Green, Simei Green Condo, Rio Vista, Orchid Park Condominium and The Sail.

A three-bedroom condo unit at People’s Park Complex in Chinatown, for instance, had three more bedrooms added and each was leased out separately. The additional three bedrooms were created through partitions in the living and dining area.

Without the extra bedrooms, the 1,173-sq-ft property fetched about US$4,500 (RM19,926) rent a month, but after adding more bedrooms, the owner earned more than US$8,000 (RM35,424).

In Bedok, another three-bedroom condo unit at Casafina was also turned into a six-bedroom apartment, with each room leased out for between US$1,100 (RM4,870) and US$1,800 (RM7,970) a month.

ERA Realty property agent Nur Diyana Mazlan, who is marketing the unit at Casafina, said: “The rental market is crazy now. Landlords are leveraging the co-living trend to earn more rent.

“The smallest room is priced at US$1,100, which is the same price as a common bedroom in an HDB flat in Woodlands that I leased out recently.

“Although this room at Casafina is much smaller, it’s still attractive as tenants can enjoy condo facilities and would also feel more comfortable sharing the space with other tenants, without the landlord.”

Other property agents confirmed more landlords are maximising their rental incomes in a bullish market, by adding more rooms to their apartments and labelling their properties “co-living” spaces. For tenants, home-sharing is a way to beat the high rents.

Agents say it costs between US$20,000 (RM88,560) and US$30,000 (RM132,840) to add the partitions and the furnishings.

The extra bedrooms would be built in the living and dining area, leaving only a small space for a dining table.

The idea of packing more tenants into one private apartment is not new, but property agents said they have seen more of such units in the past year. — Straits Times/ANN