| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81,244 | 96,670 | 109,165 | 116,741 | 106,502 | 96,945 | 68,464 | 41,407 | 27,748 | |
| 2 | 99.9% | 99.8% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 3 | 96.9% | 96.5% | 99.5% | 99.8% | 99.8% | 99.9% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 4 | 77.7% | 84.2% | 93.9% | 99.4% | 99.5% | 99.9% | 100% | 100% | 99.9% |
| 5 | 51.8% | 62.5% | 85.8% | 99.0% | 99.3% | 99.9% | 100% | 100% | 99.8% |
| 6 | 29.5% | 45.5% | 81.0% | 98.8% | 99.2% | 99.8% | 100% | 99.9% | 99.6% |
| 7 | 21.6% | 38.9% | 80.2% | 98.6% | 99.0% | 99.7% | 100% | 99.8% | |
| 8 | 17.2% | 35.4% | 79.1% | 98.2% | 98.8% | 99.6% | 99.9% | ||
| 9 | 14.4% | 31.0% | 77.1% | 97.6% | 98.5% | 99.3% | |||
| 10 | 10.0% | 23.8% | 67.6% | 92.1% | 91.6% | ||||
| 11 | 0.8% | 1.9% | 8.8% | 24.7% | |||||
| 12 | 0.8% | 1.9% | 8.6% |
92.1% of the 2006 cars were used for ten years. It looks like this trend will continue for some years.
I had expected COE renewals to go up, but I had not expected it to spike from 1.9% in 2014 to 24.7% last year! There will be many renewals this year as well, but not as many as last year.
There were 7,900 5-year COE renewal in 2015. In 2016, 22,472. They can be "added" to the 2010-2011 car population: from 41,407 in 2010 to 49,307 and 27,748 in 2011 to 50,220.
In a first for residential properties in Singapore, 191 private terraced houses at Geylang Lorong 3 will be returned to the State when their leases run out at the end of 2020, with no extensions allowed.
For the 33 homeowners who are still residing there, time is running out. They will have to hand back the vacated units to the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) when their leases run out in 3-½ years with no compensation.
Each of the 191 units will be assigned a dedicated SLA officer who will be the home owners' point of contact with the authorities, the authority said in a statement on Tuesday (June 20).
Sixteen SLA officers went knocking doors around the estate, which were sold to residents on a 60-year lease term in 1960, to introduce themselves to the owners and guide them through the process.
While only 33 units are owner-occupiers, the remaining units consist of temple operators or are rented out to foreign workers when the homes' original owners moved out over the years. They, too, will have to vacate when the units' leases expire.
By then, owners will have to remove all their belongings and clear the premises. They must also terminate all their utilities and services and pay all outstanding bills, said SLA.
They will not need to do any reinstatement or demolition works when handing their Geylang homes over.
This is the first time a residential plot of land has reached the end of its lease. The 70-year leasehold private houses in Jalan Chempaka Kuning and Jalan Chempaka Puteh, near Tanah Merah, is the next in line to reach expiry in 2034.
Since 2008, there has been seven lease extensions granted in en bloc sales of private condominiums, but none for private landed homes.
The two hectare plot of land in Geylang Lorong 3 will be earmarked for future public housing, but SLA did not give a timeline to when the redevelopment process will start or complete.
Said SLA's chief executive Tan Boon Khai: "As a general policy, upon lease expiry, the State land and the property will revert back to the Government. In this case, there are exciting plans to rejuvenate the Kallang area and this site will be slated for public housing."
SLA said it is committed to helping the owners through the lease expiry process.
"For owner-occupants who need alternative housing, there are various existing housing schemes that will help them transit smoothly. These owner-occupants will not be left without options," said the authority's statement.
Owners can buy a Housing Board flat or private property if they do not already have alternative housing. They can also choose to rent a home.
The Straits Times reported about the impending lease expiry at Geylang Lorong 3 last month, with several residents expressing their concerns that they will have no place to relocate to.
One resident told reporters on Tuesday that she only learnt about the lease expiry issue from the ST report.
Said Madam Tan Whay Seok, 69, who works as a hawker nearby: "We are now very anxious because we don't know where to go after this. Recently, we spent a lot of money on my husband's leg surgery, so we do not have a lot of savings left.
"I now hope that we can be allowed to stay nearby."
Previously, no one takes the lease seriously. Now they should.
It is too late to wait until the lease is ending to renew it. In the future, I expect there to be a scheme to top-up the lease by 20 or 50 years when there are 20 years left.
Anything less than 20 years is basically unsellable, IMO, except for straight-line depreciation. Even 40 years is a hard sell, because the buyer should be afraid of holding the bag in 10+ years time.
It is a ticking time bomb as more houses get less than 60 years left.
The Ikea ALGOT shelving system is perfect for my service balcony. I like modular systems as they can be tailored to my requirements and have some re-arrangement flexibility in the future. Even so, I hesitated for some time because I had to check that the back of the shelves had enough clearance for trunking.
The ALGOT system is really simple. The minimum you need is, two wall supports ($8 each for 196 cm), a shelf ($12 for 80x38 cm) and two brackets ($4 each for 38 cm) per shelf, for a total of $28!
There are three configurations: wall mounted (using "wall uprights"), wall supported and free-standing (using "posts" and "foots").
My initial plan: two 1.96 m wall-mounted shelves of 60 cm and 80 cm.
But then I found that each wall support requires some clearance — 6.8 cm for three of them. So, I went with two 60 cm shelves, and it was just enough, because there was less clearance at the bottom of the wall, which I missed.
The bottom half of the wall supports are wasted because they are blocked by the washing machine and dryer. But the next shorter wall support is just 84 cm. I told the installer to put the wall support as high as possible. :lol:
In hindsight, if I had opted for the shorter support, I could have used 60 cm and 80 cm shelves — and saved on delivery.
Costs in total: $96; three 193 cm wall supports ($8 each), five 38 cm shelves ($8 each), eight 38 cm wall brackets ($4 each).
Installation is expensive. $38 per post. :-O I had a double-take, but I had no choice because the wall supports needed to be drilled and aligned properly. It's actually doable, just need to measure carefully.
Delivery is also "marked-up". Up to five items is $35, but if it includes installation, it is $55 (same as up to ten items).
Never cross CTE (after Braddell road) between 8:30 am and 8:55 am. Once charged, twice avoid!
| Time | Price |
|---|---|
| 7:00 | $0.50 |
| 7:05 | $1.00 |
| 7:30 | $2.00 |
| 7:35 | $3.00 |
| 8:00 | $3.50 |
| 8:05 | $4.00 |
| 8:30 | $5.00 |
| 8:35 | $6.00 |
| 8:55 | $4.00 |
| 9:00 | $2.00 |
| 9:25 | $1.00 |
| 9:30 | $0.00 |
Personally though, I feel ERP needs to be at least $4 to be effective. :-P
Stiff competition from trade-fair organisers raises rent, but many still keen to lease stalls
With crowds thronging the fairgrounds nightly, it looks like business is booming for hawkers at the ongoing Geylang Serai Bazaar.
But many say rentals have soared to an all-time high, and they are concerned about the sustainability of the festive event, held in conjunction with the month of Ramadan.
Mr Jay Kwek, 24, who sells foods such as Thai milk tea and fried Oreos, took two stalls for $30,000 this year. Last year, it was $16,000 for two lots and the year before, $10,000, he said.
Mr Suriyah Selvarajah, 28, whose family has sold vadai (fried savoury doughnuts) there for 30 years, said they paid $17,000 for renting one stall this year. Last year, they paid $15,000 and the year before, $10,000, he told The Sunday Times.
The rent for the more than 900 stalls at the bazaar — which stretches mainly along Geylang Road and Engku Aman Road — vary depending on the location.
According to checks by ST, food stalls command rents of as high as $17,000 for a single 9ft by 9ft space, while those for retail, such as clothes stalls, are up to $7,000.
The rental price is for the entire bazaar duration until June 24, the day before Hari Raya Puasa.
The escalating rentals have been blamed on the increasingly high bids placed for the rights to run the Geylang Serai Bazaar.
Regular stall owners say it is because of a battle between two big players — Mr Tay Khoon Hua, manager of Venture Trade Fair, and Mr Alan Toh of Ability Trade Fair — who have, over the years, won rights to the full bazaar.
The trade-fair organisers are chosen via two tenders called by a working committee under the Geylang Serai Citizens' Consultative Committee (CCC) and approved by the People's Association.
Ability won one with a bid of $1.79 million, while Venture won the other with a $1.56 million bid. Both were the highest bids.
Mr Eric Wong, chairman of the Geylang Serai CCC, said the bids submitted have recently been increasing by 10 per cent annually. He said the fair site is in demand, owing to its vibrant atmosphere, good location and high footfall.
Mr Tay said that competition for the tender was stiff, so he nearly doubled his bid for the same space from last year's winning bid of $800,000. He said he had to raise rentals to pay for the higher bid, but there was no lack of interest when he raised his food stall rentals by $3,000.
"Most of the food stalls are run by young people. They are not as concerned about the rent as they are about whether their products can attract crowds," he said.
Mr Tay said his profit margin is 5 per cent to 10 per cent.
ST was unable to contact Ability.
Mr Wong said if stalls are not rented out because prices are too high, bid amounts will come down. "We cannot meddle with prices. It's (left up to) market forces," he said.
The high rentals have already put some off. Mr Mohamed Azmi, 49, who has rented a stall about five times in the last decade to sell clothes, decided to sit out this round. "It's risky. Clothes don't sell until the second part of Ramadan," he said.
Those renting stalls are unsure if they will turn in a profit. Mr Suriyah, who spoke to ST last Thursday, said: "While about 15 days have passed, I have not even covered half of my rental. We are still wondering how it is going to be."
Mr Kwek said: "The rental is expensive, but the sales here are good. But we will wait until the end of the month to see."
They both rent from Ability.
There are four parties in the chain here: the landlord, the Bazaar operators, the vendors and the consumers.
It is easy to blame the landlord for the high rental, but as always, it is the operators who are responsible. They don't care; they just pass the cost down the chain. And stupidly, the vendors continue to rent even though they are not confident of making a profit. And consumers are willing to pay increasingly exorbitant prices for their food.
It's crazy. When will it stop?
Only when the vendors balked at the rental. Mr Jay rents two stalls for $30k selling Thai milk tea and fried Oreos. Can he make $30k in 30 days? Even if he can, the first $30k goes to the operator, not him. Is it worth it?
Mr Tay won the tender with $1.56 mil. He said his profit margin is 5 - 10%. Suppose he has 400 stalls (there are 900 stalls in total), that works out to be $3.9k per stall. Clothes stall are rented for $7k, so there is a very healthy margin.
Although this news is about Geylang Serai Bazaar and its escalating rental, it is emblematic of Singapore as a whole, especially for properties.
URA put up a land site for sale with reserved price of S$685.25 mil. A property developer won the tender with a bid of S$1.003 bil. The cost is S$1,051 psf. The units are expected to be sold at S$1.8k psf and above. And they will sell like hotcakes.
So, who is at fault?
Newsflash: auctions are wonderful for extracting maximum value. In other news: Singaporeans suck at auctions.
