Student sympathic housing

[hellosingap]

Hello Singap expat community,

I wonder if you could all give me advice on where students in their 20s find housing in Singapour, what are the "student" districts.
Indeed, I have the opportunity of staying 6 months in Singapore with 3 of my friends. My work is on Victoria Street. I was thinking that a shared condo appartment would be nice, knowing that our budget all in all is around 4 000 Singapore Dollars: is it realistic?.
Would you mind advising me on what districts are dynamic? What metro stations are not so far away from victoria street?
I heard Little India was good and only 15 min away in metro from the National Librairy Building. What do you think?
Do you have a personal favorite student condo?
Does the Water Place condo or Simsville condo sound familiar as sympathetic student condos?

Thank you in advance
I am looking forward to your answers.

[beppi]

I wonder if you could all give me advice on where students in their 20s find housing in Singapour, what are the "student" districts.

The only "student" districts are university-owned hostels on the campuses of NUS and NTU. But as you are not student of those unis, you don't have access.

My work is on Victoria Street. I was thinking that a shared condo appartment would be nice, knowing that our budget all in all is around 4 000 Singapore Dollars: is it realistic?.

3-bedroom condos for S$3000-4000 rent/month are very common (minimum rental period is usually one year, though). Since you and 3 friends are 4 people, two would have to share a room. 4-bedroom appartments are not so common.

Would you mind advising me on what districts are dynamic? What metro stations are not so far away from victoria street?
I heard Little India was good and only 15 min away in metro from the National Librairy Building. What do you think?
Do you have a personal favorite student condo?
Does the Water Place condo or Simsville condo sound familiar as sympathetic student condos?

Victoria Street is very central and almost nobody lives around there. Little India is noisy and raucous, also not recommended for living.
The usual Condo dwellers are upper class family types. There are no student Condos, since students cannot afford Condos.
Most people live away from the centre and "dynamic" areas. Singapore is small and transport fast and efficient, so you could live anywhere and go out anywhere else.
The only area that I know of that mixes nightlife and residential use is the upper Singapore river (Robertson Quay and thereabouts). Rents there are higher than your budget.

[luminoso]

$4000 per month is a decent budget, but you will all have to share rooms - it is unlikely that everyone will be able to have their own room considering the number of people you're intending to live with.

If you are looking at short term housing, you will need to look hard. Most leases are for a minimum of 12 months.

Also you will need to factor the holding deposit as well as the agent's commission (if you use an agent) into your budget.

On a one year lease, holding deposit is one month's rent and agent's commission is another 0.5 month's rent

[ausinsg]

Hi,

When you say $4000 all in all as your budget, do you mean $4000 a month combined for the four of you? Or you have $4000 a month to spend and cover all your living expenses? Or you have a total of $4000 to spend on accommodation per person for the whole 6 months you are here?

Depending on which it is, there are a variety of options.

It will also depend on the type of lifestyle you want to have. Would you want to be near bars and clubs? How long are you willing to spend on public transport to get to your internship?

Places like Punggol and Sengkang, have modern but smaller family size apartments which are more affordable, and less than half an hour from town. However if you are working in an industrial estate in the West you could easily spend 1.5 hours each way getting two and from work.

Your other challenge is finding someone willing to rent a place to you for only 6 months. Many landlords would prefer a tenant who will be there for two years.

You should be aware that government housing in Singapore (HDB) makes up 87% of the housing in the country. So it is not like a western perception of government housing. They are perfectly solid and safe to live in. However some can be very old, and may be in need of renovation. You can only tell this by viewing them.

Condos have features like a swimming pool, which you may or may not require.

There are HDB blocks right in town, like at Bras Basah Complex, but you would be looking at $1000 a month or so for just a room, and it would probably be hard for all four of you to stay together.