No takers for some colonial bungalows in S'pore

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SINGAPORE: Some of Singapore's iconic black and white bungalows continue to stay vacant, as the authorities find it difficult to attract residential tenants.
House number 7 along Gallop Road has been launched three times for bidding, but in the last six months, there haven't been any takers.
This house was built during the colonial era, and used to house the French Embassy.
Its monthly rental is more than S$50,000.
The “Atbara House” next door, which is going at S$43,000 per month, also faces the same problem.
Chris Koh, director of Chris International, said: “There must be someone willing to pay. We're talking about a premium because of (the size and location) of the sites - that could be one. Number two is there's a lot of upkeeping of the place."
Ku Swee Yong, CEO of Century 21 Singapore, said: "If we rent these out to private companies for marketing events, or as corporate training centres, then we could see more bids."
There are about 500 of these bungalows in Singapore, located in central areas like Nassim Road, Goodwood Hill and Bukit Timah, as well as in areas further from the city, like Alexandra Park, Sembawang and Seletar.
They are all state-managed, and to date, 90 per cent are used for residential purposes.
A small proportion has been rented out to F&B outlets.


- CNA/xq