Foreign worker housing at full capacity; no let-up any time soon

Rising dorm costs, lack of beds mean many firms cannot expedite projects

- Lim Yan and Andrew Wong

When construction activity rebounded to almost pre-pandemic levels in 2022, many firms began to hire in earnest once more, but soon ran into a problem: where to house all their workers.

Any unoccupied spots in the Republic's stock of 256,000 beds in purpose-built dormitories (PBDS) were quickly snapped up, and rental rates began to climb. The Straits Times reported in January that companies which had to renew their workers' tenancy agreements paid premiums of 30 per cent or more.

This came as sky-high rents for Housing Board flats prompted some employers of employment pass and Malaysian work permit holders to move their workers to PBDs, further fuelling bed demand, according to dorm operators.

"To my knowledge, the cost of housing workers at PBDs has increased by between $50 and $100 per bed," said Mr Stanley Soh, 43, Ngee Cheng Electric's human resources and operations manager.

"Cost is one issue; another is availability of beds as most of the PBDS are full." Some companies sought permission from the authorities to install more beds in their industrial premises, known as factory-converted dormitories (FCDs), but were rejected, said Ms Jolene Teo, 59, director of Southern Airconditioning Engineering. The authorities said this was to minimise additional pressure on infrastructure such as the sewerage system.

It was thus good news when the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) told firms in February that these rules would be relaxed for up to three years in 13 areas around the island where new temporary workers' dorms were previously disallowed.