Understanding housing types in Singapore
New to Singapore? Finding a place here is a little like house hunting in New York City. Be prepared to act fast, acquaint yourself with the different neighbourhoods and types of housing in Singapore and get yourself a good property/ relocation agent.
Trust us – they’ll make your property dreams much easier.
HDB
HDB (Housing Development Board) units are government housing, but units aren’t available for rent unless they’re resale flats. These apartments don’t come with amenities like tennis courts or a swimming pool, but they’re built as part of satellite towns.
Translation: rent is cheaper and the neighbourhood is self-contained with local schools, malls, markets, coffeeshops and hawker centres, medical facilities, community centres, and even sports complexes. These suburbs are usually well-connected and within walking distance to train stations. 85% of Singaporeans live in HDBs.
Condominiums
If you’re looking to buy a place, condos are readily available to expats (unlike HDBs). These private apartments are also available for rent (usually pre-furnished) and come with shared facilities like pools, tennis courts, security, underground parking, function rooms available for booking, barbecue pits, and even a gym. The convenience of it all is worth a pretty penny – there’s a monthly maintenance fee on top of rent.
Cluster Homes
Want the convenience of a condo with more space for the kids to run around in? You need a cluster home. Cluster homes are housed in a gated community and provide shared facilities similar to condos. The key difference: you have the space of a landed property with your own two, three, or even four-storey unit.
Landed Property
Want a front yard and your own porch? Go landed. Sure you might not have all those modern conveniences (goodbye security guard, sayonara tennis court), but you have the luxury of landscaping your front yard, painting your front gate (if the landlord gives the green light), or camping outside with the kids. There are different classes of landed properties too: the bungalow (official term: detached house) is a standalone property, the semi-D (official term: semi-detached house) is one-half of a bungalow with land area around its half, and terrace houses are a stretch of units built together. Terraces have a front-facing and a back-facing side.
Need more relocation advice? Check out our top 5 tips on moving to Singapore or visit our Arrival Lounge!