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Ho Ching, the former CEO of Temasek and now chairperson of Temasek Trust, has weighed in on why bids to rent black-and-white colonial bungalows from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) are typically "quite low".

In a Facebook post on June 30, Ho made direct reference to the houses at 26 and 31 Ridout Road rented by ministers Vivian Balakrishnan and K Shanmugam.

In her calculations, she factored in the upfront and ongoing costs of maintenance and upkeeping of the properties into the rental, in a bid to provide the public with a different perspective on the issue.

Shanmugam's rental is about S$33,000 instead of S$26,500

Reiterating the actual costs of Shanmugam's rental rate for 31 Ridout Road, Ho wrote that it is about S$33,000 a month instead of S$26,500 -- if the additional costs of work carried out are factored in.

This was after it was revealed that Shanmugam had paid S$61,400 to build a car porch and over S$400,000 for additional improvement works, and Ho counted the costs as spread out over a nine-year tenancy period -- or over S$52,000 a year, or over S$4,200 extra a month.

Adding another S$25,000 a year that Shanmugam pays a year to maintain the adjacent areas, would add another S$2,000 or so of costs a month, Ho figured.

The "effective rental", she wrote, would be S$26,500 plus S$4,200 plus S$2,000, to come up to S$32,700 -- roughly S$33,000 per month for 31 Ridout Road.

Vivian's rental is about S$22,000 to S$23,000 instead of S$20,000

In calculating Vivian's rental rate for 26 Ridout Road, Ho considered the S$200,000 spent on additional works, which included the upgrading of a toilet.

Spread out over eight years of tenancy, this comes up to about S$2,000 to S$3,000 extra per month.

The "effective rental from a tenant’s perspective" would be S$19,000 to S$20,000, plus over S$2,000, just to rent Vivian's compound.

According to released figures, Vivian was officially paying S$19,000 a month for his property between October 2019 and October 2022, and it has been raised to S$20,000.

Ho reiterated that this explains the low bids for such houses, implying that additional costs on top of the rental, do add up and serve as a deterrence.

Such bungalows for 'folks to live closer to nature'

Ho's post also went beyond just the quick math.

Ho wrote that people who opt to stay in black-and-white bungalows can be far away from public transport options, be exposed to cobras, among other snakes, as well as mosquitoes and macaques.

@mothershipsg We had an inside look into two B/W bungalows in S'pore #tiktoksg #sgnews ♬ original sound - Mothership.sg

Such houses are for "folks to live closer to nature", she added.

Those who might enjoy making full use of the grounds of the bungalow's spacious compound are the ones with large extended families.

There are about 600 black-and-white bungalows in Singapore managed by SLA.

They can be found in central areas like Scotts Road, Goodwood Hill, Malcolm Park, and Bukit Timah, as well as rustic areas like Alexandra Park, Sembawang, Changi, and Seletar.

Maintenance an issue

However, Ho added that maintenance is a key issue, as the "buildings are generally nearly 100 years old, with lots of wooden beam and frames that require added care compared to modern building materials".

Knight Frank Property Asset Management Pte Ltd's managing director, Peter Tan, told Mothership that due to Singapore's tropical and humid weather, these houses -- with their abundance of wood -- require a robust maintenance regime.

They require regular inspections for roof leaks, burst pipes, pest infestations (those wooden beams attract a lot of termites), mould growth, and structural wear and tear.

The sprawling grounds also require regular landscaping, tree pruning and inspections for rodents.

'Different strokes for different folks'

Ho ended her post on a positive note and even appeared sanguine about how the public can view this issue:

There are also terrace houses, shophouses, walk-up flats, under the SLA inventory of conservation or old govt properties.

Different strokes for different folks.

For many of us, these numbers are beyond our reach, and not really our area of interest.

Others have greater interest in travelling, feasting or other experiential hobbies.

It is good that most of us have homes that we can go home to, to unwind at the end of a working day, and to enjoy a meal with family.

As mother would say in Cantonese, even a doggie patch can be comfortable when it is home.

@mothershipsg We try explaining the Ridout Road saga in 72s.#tiktoksg #sgnews ♬ original sound - Mothership.sg

Top photo via Temasek & Trenton Szakall/ Google Maps