Man wanting to rent Bukit Timah condo unit told, ‘We don’t accept S’poreans’

SINGAPORE: A man who tried to rent a condominium unit at Bukit Timah was surprised when he was told that Singaporeans would not be accepted as renters.

Thirty-six-year-old Mr Zhou told Shin Min Daily News that when he showed interest in the unit, he was informed by the real estate agent that the owner of the unit had previously had a dispute with former renters, who were locals.

At present, he and his family of five live in an HDB flat at Redhill. However, with one of his children starting Primary 1 next year at a school near Upper Bukit Timah Road, the family wanted to move closer to it.

Mr Zhou added that his wife found a unit she liked at Southaven II, a condominium near Upper Bukit Timah Road, via the PropertyGuru site. She reached out to the real estate agent in order to give it a look.

At first, the agent said the unit was available for viewing the following morning. They then proceeded to ask additional questions, including how many people would be staying in the apartment and what country they’re from.

Mr Zhou said he has a family of five, and that they are all from Singapore.

To his surprise, the agent told him, “Sorry, we don’t accept Singaporeans.”

He told Shin Min Daily News that it was not only unfair but also absurd that locals would not be allowed to rent a residence from the landlord.

When the Chinese daily reached out to the real estate agent, however, she said that the owner of the unit is a foreigner and that his policy of not renting to locals is not meant to exclude the citizens of any particular country.

The problem is that he has had disputes with locals who rented the unit in the past, and the owner wants to avoid this from happening again.

The dispute ended up with the landlord and the previous tenant ending up in court, which caused the landlord to decide to try renting to non-locals this time around. The agent added that while a permanent resident offered a higher rental rate to rent the unit, the owner still chose to rent it to a foreigner, who put in a lower rental offer.

An industry professional whom Shin Min Daily News spoke to said that real estate agents cannot refuse tenants based on the country they’re from. Furthermore, when advertising rental properties, they are not allowed to restrict them to would-be renters from a specific religion, race, or nationality.

The landlord has the final say in renting out a unit, however, and may have particular criteria. If a renter does not meet the owner’s criteria, the real estate agent explains this to the would-be renter, but brings their application to the landlord for a decision to be made. /TISG

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