Singapore Expats

Hi,

Am renting a HDB unit and my landlord is telling me that i can't host my family or friends over a few days because, according to HDB rules, "only authorised listed subtenants are allowed to stay in the flat."

I know it's illegal for HDB tenants to sublet a room, either short or long term, but what about having guests over? Is there a clear ruling on this kind of situation ??

Tried searching online, but only came across posts about subletting

Thanks !

Guests are allowed for the duration of their tourist visa IN MY PERSONAL OPINION ONLY (i.e. they are not illegal overstayers which is the main concern of HDB). Do you rent the entire flat or only a room? If for the former I'd tell your LL to go phuck himself, if the latter you are in a bind.

Thx for the opinion. We rent the whole unit.
We are on very good terms with our landlord and hope to renew the lease when it expires But he's been burned in the past by other tenants who were subletting his unit and received a warning from the HDB board, so he is very cautious with such things.

if they are bona fide tourists/guests and are not paying you or doing anything illegal in your rented flat, i think you should be fine in everyone's eyes.

since your relationship with your LL is good, whether or not your TA notes that any overnight guests or persons not listed on the agreement requires notification, i recommend just letting him/her know so there are no surprises.

i doubt he/she will object. if he/she does, then at least you'll be making an informed decision when the TA comes up for renewal...

Semar wrote:Thx for the opinion. We rent the whole unit.
We are on very good terms with our landlord and hope to renew the lease when it expires But he's been burned in the past by other tenants who were subletting his unit and received a warning from the HDB board, so he is very cautious with such things.

If he's trying to whack you for commercial rates for house guests for a couple of nights/week it doesn't sound like you are on very good terms with your landlord to me. I'd hate to see you on bad terms.

@taxico - That is exactly what we are doing presently. Unfortunately, not finding proper rules on this kind of situation on the HDB website and receiving unclear feedback from HDB officers he talked to stress him a bit. Hence my question here, to know whether someone had more info than we do.

@sundaymorningstaple - he's not trying to whack us for commercial rates, we talked about it and he insisted he had to run it by the HDB to make sure it was ok with them. The officer he contacted replied in one sentence with "only authorised listed subtenants are allowed to stay in the flat.", so he's feeling uneasy about the situation. Especially after he read that two HDB owners lost their flat in recent months because of Airbnb.

but your friends/family are not paying you... what sub-tenant?

I agree. That is why I think it's perfectly ok for us to host a couple of relatives over short period of times. But my Singaporean landlord is looking for a more black and ruling... He is very much "by the book".

Semar wrote:I agree. That is why I think it's perfectly ok for us to host a couple of relatives over short period of times. But my Singaporean landlord is looking for a more black and ruling... He is very much "by the book".

this may be impossible to get unless you are able to figure a way to prove (in "black and white") that your guests are not paying to stay in your rental flat AND confirm a genuine relationship with you.

i have no idea how to do that without lots of credit and banking statements, receipts, lots of birth certificates, photos, copies of past correspondence, telephone records... a genealogy chart... it's like trying to get a visa for my wife!

good luck, though!

Semar wrote:I agree. That is why I think it's perfectly ok for us to host a couple of relatives over short period of times. But my Singaporean landlord is looking for a more black and ruling... He is very much "by the book".

your landlord is perfectly right to be worried

a nosy neighbor may just rat him out if they see too many people in the house, and unlike condos HDB has the right to take the apartment back

and HDB gets tips from friendly neighbors who get worried based on past cases, if there is a dormitory or a illegal hotel or worse, a brothel

I had a landlord who was jittery like yours and when my other half was visiting, the friendly neighbor told the LL

the LLs agent calls and asks me for copy of six month social visa

tried telling her such a thing doesn't exist but she was adamant that without a 6 month visa the visitor must not stay, as per HDB rules monthly visa is Short Term Stay.

to pacify her I sent her a copy of the social visit pass and told her I will the 6 month visa once processed, and when the SVP was renewed sent the next one ...

rather that tell her she is wrong ... or she is mental.

there was no question of additional pay or such a thing, btw.

Semar wrote:"only authorised listed subtenants are allowed to stay in the flat."

Ahh, and I was wondering why the birth rate was so low...

Whenever my daughter or mother visit from the UK I send a photocopy of their passport to the landlord and tell her how long they are staying. You could try that? At least the landlord will have some evidence of who is there and the ability to identify the temporary visitors if something untoward was to happen.

Thanks ecureilx and Steve1960, we've just discussed this idea with my LL and agreed that we'd work this way.

Semar wrote:Thanks ecureilx and Steve1960, we've just discussed this idea with my LL and agreed that we'd work this way.

+1

HDB has a new initiative requiring tenants to register all overnight visitors in HDB system via the landlord. This requirement is a new HDB initiative and supersedes the tenancy agreement.
Its not clear how official the policy is at this stage. For details refer to the original reply.

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