ST : Blocked view is residents' main gripe

Feb 14, 2010

Blocked view is residents' main gripe

By Shuli Sudderuddin and Debby Kwong

It is a room with a view, but not for long, fears housewife Ho Sock Lian, 60.

Not when a block of rental flats comes up on a vacant plot of land across from her block, obscuring her view of the sky and trees.

HDB announced last month it was building blocks of rental flats in Tampines and Pasir Ris. This is part of a move to build 8,000 more rental flats in the next three years.

'I'm very unhappy because the view will be blocked if the rental block is so high and I think this

will affect the price,' said Madam Ho of the ninth-floor, four-room flat for which she was once offered $400,000.

Madam Ho's views echo most of the gripes of residents spread across the Tampines block and those in blocks 475 and 476 in Pasir Ris Drive 6.

Residents in the three blocks found out recently that rental flats were being built near their homes and met Members of Parliament and HDB officials with complaints about privacy and safety.

Many were also upset that they had not been consulted or informed earlier.

However, most of the more than 30 residents who spoke to The Sunday Times said their main objection was over the loss of an unblocked view and breeze, not their fear of possible social problems their new neighbours may bring.

Said a 50-year-old self-employed Tampines resident who wanted to be known only as Mr Lee: 'It's unfair to say we are kicking up a fuss that the people in rental flats will cause problems. We're not discriminating against them, we're not very well off either. The main issue is that the new flats will block my view.'

The rental block in Tampines is slated to be 14 storeys high. HDB has not said how high the Pasir Ris rental flats will go.

Residents were also worried about congestion, saying it was already hard to find parking and new blocks would create overcrowding.

Many were concerned about losing the value of their flats too.

Residents in both Tampines and Pasir Ris said their three- and four-room flats were currently worth about $330,000 or more. They expect the value to drop below $300,000.

But a few residents admitted they are afraid their rental flat neighbours will make the area unsafe and even seedy.

Said machine operator Rosman Sairi, 44, who lives in Pasir Ris Block 476: 'It's been very peaceful in the nine years I've been living here and I don't know what kind of people will be living in the rental block. What if they commit crimes?'

Property agents said the residents' fears about their flats' value taking a nosedive were unfounded.

Mr Mohamed Ismail, chief executive of estate agency PropNex, said there has been no trend of falling property prices near rental flat areas, nor are buyers more reluctant to buy them.

'For buyers, it's more important that the flats are near amenities and facilities. As for blocked views, any empty plot of land won't stay vacant for long. Buyers have to be prepared for that,' he said.

He cited the case of The Bayshore condominium in East Coast, where buyers shelled out big bucks for the sea view, only to be blocked by Costa Del Sol condominium, nine years later.

Mr Chris Koh, director of Dennis Wee Properties, said the stigma surrounding rental block residents is unfair.

'Many are young people and young families who are just starting out. If they are aiming to buy the rental flats later on, they would be more likely to look after the flat and the neighbourhood,' he said.

Only a handful of residents interviewed did not mind the rental flats coming up.

Said housewife Noraffnah Hanapi, 33: 'I'm not intending to sell this place, so its value doesn't affect me. I'm not worried about my safety either.'

But many were still riled.

Said Mr Swee Huat Beng, 31, unemployed: 'I just moved in two months ago. If I knew that my view was going to be blocked, I wouldn't have bought this place.'