In Singapore, more millennials are choosing to rent as values shift
- A lack of privacy triggered by the Covid-19 lockdown, long wait times for new flats and changing values are some reasons driving young professionals to rent
- While society remains largely conservative, Singapore’s rising affluence is leading to a growing acceptance of cohabitation, an expert says
It‘ll be close to midnight before her exhausting day ends. This relentless schedule repeats four times a week. On weekends, the 19-year-old polytechnic student often puts in 12-hour work shifts.
The hard-earned money is not used for outings or shopping purchases, but to pay her monthly rent of S$1,050 (US$770).
Since moving out of her family home in July, Nat has traded comfort for independence. While she previously stayed in a spacious semi-detached house and had a domestic worker doing the household chores, home is now a small two-bedroom private apartment in the east of Singapore, equipped only with a single toilet that she shares with three housemates.
“With everyone being in such close proximity at home every day, I was fighting with my family a lot, and it escalated to a point when I just wanted to move out,” said Nat, who only wished to be known by her first name.
