Family hoping to rent condo unit in Upper Bukit Timah told: 'No Singaporeans'
A Singaporean who wanted to rent a condominium unit along Upper Bukit Timah Road was shocked to find out that the foreign owner is not accepting local tenants, Shin Min Daily News reported.
The man, known only as Mr Zhou (transliteration), 36, was responding to a listing on the Property Guru platform for a unit in Southaven II on Hindhede Walk. Its location would have been ideal for his family of five, as one of his children is attending a school in the area next year.
However, when he contacted the property agent to arrange a viewing, he was instantly rejected when he revealed that he and his family were Singaporean.
Mr Zhou, who currently lives in an HDB unit in the Redhill/Bukit Merah area, will be renting for the first time and felt the exclusion was absurd.
When contacted by Shin Min, the agent revealed that the condo owner previously had a dispute with a local tenant that went to court, and did not want to repeat the mistake of renting his unit to another Singaporean.
The agent added that the owner had even rejected higher offers from locals because of their preference for a foreigner.
Singaporean tenants are not easy
There are no specific laws preventing landlords from rejecting tenants based on their race or nationality, though the Council of Estate Agents (CEA) prohibits registered agents from putting out advertisements that are discriminatory.
Netizens had mixed reactions to the owner's no-Singaporean requirement. "Kena (discriminated against) in own country," said one.
"Singaporeans tenants are "not easy", said another, adding: "They are very calculative and demanding unlike foreigners who are easy going because they know it's not easy for them to get here so they watch their behaviour."
One netizen attributed the requirement to sinister intentions: "Because the landlord can't abuse Singaporeans. Best example is to eat their deposit for fun, landlord know foreigner already purchased their air ticket and no time to wait for court case."
Others suggested looking elsewhere. "Mysterious. Is there only one house in the whole of Upper Bukit Timah?" asked a netizen.
A real estate agent with 26 years of experience told Stomp that it is up to landlords to decide who they want to rent their units to, and agents respect their personal preferences on a case-by-case basis.
Senior director of agency at ERA Realty Network Mark Kong said: "Property owners have the right to set the criteria or conditions for renting out their units in the open market. I have to be diplomatic and encourage the owners to be more flexible in their demands, especially if the unit is vacant for a long period due to a soft market."
Mr Kong said he has yet to encounter landlords who do not wish to rent to a certain race or nationality. Noting that tenants are usually "not hell-bent on renting in a particular unit", he added: "I would strongly advise him to move on and search for other suitable rental units in the same vicinity."
"Because, as in any human relationship, it takes two hands to clap also for a hassle-free, smooth property transaction. We definitely want to avoid constant conflicts and unhappiness between the landlord and a tenant during a typical two-year lease," said Mr Kong.
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