Rental Increases?!!?! :(

[MblSH]

.if you want to stay in the same area, you will have to pay the increase, but as i say...no is a key word??
If they build and you are willing to pay.....they will keep on building and charging??

Personally, I'm already in Changi; there's not much space left to move further from the prime districts...

(And yes, I'm seeing 70-90% increase in price - my landlord can't make up his mind)

[jockney]

Does anyone think the rents are value for money?
does it reflect singapore as a thriving city, busy, plenty of work, safe streets in the most, low crime?
I have not been here in a recession or during a sars outbreak...but what were the rents like then and did tenants complain if they were low?
Like to hear some views on those points..

[jockney]

for the money my company pays here I could get a very large house in the town I live in scotland, but there is high crime,no jobs,not much to do etc. No facilities come with the house...like the pool or gym, these are extra!
in the nearest city (Glasgow) I could get a nice and similar apartment with similar facilities for the same figure. With a high crime rate to boot.
Being an original Londoner I shudder to think what I could get for the same money...probably a bedsit!
From experience London has gone the same way, but I chose to move out rather than pay high prices for over priced property....I could not burden myself with the debt just because 'I' wanted to live there.
People have chosen to stay there and pay well over the top for property that is not worth what they are paying for it....but they are free to do as they wish and if they are happy with it then thats ok, but you cant take part in that behaviour and then sit and bitch about it....or can you?
I think for what you get for your money here, the prices are not too bad, but I can only speak about what we get for our money.

[Superglide]

Look at it like this,

It is hard to compare Singapore as a city to others, even harder when comparing its costs of living to other cities around the globe.

But when knowing the average family income in Singapore is about S$ 3,5K per month, an average rent of S$ 3 to 5 K for a 3 bedroom condo seems quite a bit to me.

I know, the majority of the locals live in HDB, for obvious reasons...

Whatever one thinks of the current property market, only the elite of Singaporeans could afford a condo nowadays.

[jockney]

It does sound a little like the UK, as only the elite can live in properties of a similar nature and by that I mean the facilities, swimming pools and gyms and saunas, tennis courts etc
Most of us live in smaller properties with no facilities and the property is the biggest part of my outgoings and as I said previous I try to live well within my means.
If I worked in the Uk I would need to downsize my house(which would not be a problem) otherwise like the locals here I could not afford to pay for it.
I know of many people who pay a mortgage for their property which uses upto 75% of their salary and then live on credit for the month and just get into more and more debt.
I t is great to get all sorts of views on though eh?
I think if the shoe was on the other foot and only incomers could afford nice places in the UK and the locals had to live in government provided property....then there would be a riot! Sad eh?

[k1w1]

Jockney, I don't know ANYONE who has just accepted their rent hike. Rents have doubled, and I know more than one person whose rent went up by more than double. Everyone I know has moved out to cheaper areas, or into smaller condos.

Most of us have signed work contracts so it's not just a case of "up sticks" when we think things are beyond reasonable.

[jockney]

I wonder if the ones complaining about the rent hikes are the ones who have wee maids working for paltry sums of money, generally living in wee small rooms, and do not exactly pay them their true worth?? (I dont hear them saying they will raise the salaries??)
My point is accept the situation or do something about it?
I too have signed a contract of employment, but if I really could not afford to live here....then I would not do so and would then do something about it.

[k1w1]

Way to avoid the topic. You've managed to slag off private schools, private housing and now (since you weren't getting anywhere with your "insights" there), you've gone onto maids.

Do you even employ a maid? Do you know what they're paid (and the going rates for expats)? It's no secret that maids want to work for expat families, because they're usually paid more, get more time off and are given a room (yes, it might be small, but most local families don't provide her with one at all - she will sleep in one of the common rooms or with the children). My maid gets regular payrises (every six months), and has increased her salary by 25% in the 14 months that she has lived with us. She earns much more than her counterparts. I give her bonuses of 20% every six months too. I am, by no means, a top payer though and many expat employers pay much more and give better benefits.

How long have you been here? Perhaps you'd like to start saying that all expats are idiots for eating Western food, when they can easily fill their bellies for $3 at the local hawker? I don't know what makes you think we've all come here from the backwaters of hell, and are now living it up in the grand ol' expat haven of Swing, complaining that we can't blow our noses on $50 bills anymore. Most of us have come here for the career advances, better money and better lifestyle. Those things get quickly eroded when prices skyrocket. And I'd love to see your employer repatriate you (or let you go without some kind of nastiness) if you just decided it wasn't worth it for you to see out your contract...

[sprite]

Well done Kiwi, but you are wasting your time. Jockney only wants to scold and make crazy assumptions.

[jockney]

touchy people where money goes eh?
I am not entitled to my views but you are entitled to yours eh???
apologies if i hit a raw nerve.
No i dont employ a maid and yes I do know what they are paid as I try to look into things I talk about.
We had no maid in Scotland and we can see no motive for getting one here when we got on ok without one at home????
Me and my wife are capable of cooking, cleaning,looking after our kids and going to work into the bargain.
We did manage at home all those chores without a maid...so what is different here??
Did you have a maid at home??

[k1w1]

touchy people where money goes eh?
I am not entitled to my views but you are entitled to yours eh???
apologies if i hit a raw nerve.
No i dont employ a maid and yes I do know what they are paid as I try to look into things I talk about.
We had no maid in Scotland and we can see no motive for getting one here when we got on ok without one at home????
Me and my wife are capable of cooking, cleaning,looking after our kids and going to work into the bargain.
We did manage at home all those chores without a maid...so what is different here??
Did you have a maid at home??

No, but I had family and friends and childcare centres that were regulated by government agencies. I had someone mow the lawns at my house. I know plenty of people who got their houses cleaned and had babysitters or nannies. NO ONE raises small kids, works and keeps a house without help of some kind. Not even you, and all your wisdom. Exactly how old are your kids? Obviously old enough for you to leave at home alone, or to send to school without assistance or help out at home. What the hell, it's all the same, right?

Where did I say you weren't entitled to your views? I think they're stupid, but you're entitled to them. Now, any other assumptions or accusations you'd like to throw out?

[jockney]

My children are young and still at school.
we never had a maid at home, we cut our own grass, wash our own car, look after our own children.
when we did not go out as a family my mother in law watched the children.
you seem very angry at my views and my intention is not upset anyone, just get adult discussion??
I took the opportunity to come here and work, my son loves it, my wife likes it. we live not really much different a life than we did at home, although we have some nice trappings in the pool etc
I had to work away 4 weeks at a time before I came here and my wife still never employed maids or gardeners etc, so now I am home very day she has more help than before!
the main point i was making was some people come to Singapore and think they have 'arrived', with the nice lifestyle, maids,cheap living and they get carried away with themselves,they portray an image they would like to portray in the uk,( but cannot afford to!) and the rents start to rise (considerably in some cases) and then they spit the dummy out....well if your life is about money and things...then you have to learn to take the rough with the smooth eh?
Some expats here are a disgrace and there attitudes are shocking( not all i hasten to add) and that's from experience, they ignore you as they go along and pretend to be something they are not.
I think the school my son is at is ok and he likes it, although again some of the parents are far from friendly when they see others as commoners and not the type they want to be seen with.
Money causes problems the world over whether it be private schools or maids or mortgage payments and I have learnt the hard way to strive for real happiness and not the kind that involves money or things and upto now it has been working just fine.
I really wish everyone all the best, which is more than i can say for a few people i have met here.

[k1w1]

The word "commoner" is not one I have ever used. I believe it stems from some warped hangup some Brit's have. I can't be bothered with such stupidity.

From your last post, it appears your wife has the luxury of staying at home and not working - which affords you the luxury of making the sweeping statements that you have here about people being lazy and superficial. I don't know why I am wasting my time here, but I'm going to have one last go at this...

God only knows, if I were a superficial person only interested in money and things, I certainly wouldn't do the job I do (and love). I wouldn't have married the man that I did (and love). Your comments in your last post were certainly directed at me, so I feel it's appropriate to point these things out. I don't mean them to sound emotional, because they're not. We all make choices - I'm very happy with mine.

Being worried about money and my financial future, and complaining about being ripped off of the salary that I have, does not make me superficial. It doesn't make anyone superficial. People not stopping to talk to you 'as they go along' (would you expect people to do that in Scotland? ), does not make them snobs.

Yes, some expats are idiots. Some are snobs. Some look down their noses at you and ask you which club you belong to, and comment that, "It's just so hard to get good help these days". I think we can all back that up with more than a few stories... I've got some real corkers! (Maybe we can do that on another thread.) Didn't you meet people like that in Scotland too? I know I met my fair share of dickheads at home, and other places I've lived, to know that not every expat here is going to be just like me, or a friend in the making.

Don't you get that slagging off everyone who rents private accomodation (and complains about price hikes), sends their kids to International Schools and employs a maid is just as snobby as these afore-mentioned idiots?

I'm not angry at your views. I'm just gobsmacked by the simplicity of them. I wish you well too. No really - have a good day. I've got a bunch of hormone-ridden teenagers pouring in through my door. It's gonna be a good one here!

[jockney]

have replied by PM.

[MblSH]

I wonder if the ones complaining about the rent hikes are the ones who have wee maids working for paltry sums of money, generally living in wee small rooms, and do not exactly pay them their true worth?? (I dont hear them saying they will raise the salaries??)
My point is accept the situation or do something about it?
I too have signed a contract of employment, but if I really could not afford to live here....then I would not do so and would then do something about it.

As I was one of the of 'ones complaining', I feel I have to reply:

1. No, I don't have a maid now and never intend to have one later.

2. With maids salaries, isn't it the same supply and demand thing that supposedly drives the rents up? It can't be just that greedy employers who doesn't want to pay up, right? But if you think that people who have maids can be greedy, then why not accept that there are landlords who are greedy and ask for unreasonable rent hikes.

3. Imho the thing with rents is not that you absolutely can't afford to live in Singapore anymore, but that you are suddenly forced to change the lifestyle that you had; and I think that for lots of folks a better lifestyle compared to the one they had at home was a major driving factor for coming here in a first place. So now you're here, you have new obligations that you can't easily break (contract, having or expecting a baby, etc.), and you see that the reason for coming here is taken away, how should you feel about it?

And if you think that you can just move out of country in two-three weeks time to avoid paying higher rent, then you're never done that or never really thought of what that entails; especially when you pay for the move yourself, you don't have a job already waiting for you whereever you going, etc.

</end rant>