{"id":17579,"date":"2025-12-07T14:13:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T06:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=17579"},"modified":"2025-12-07T14:13:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T06:13:15","slug":"residents-satisfaction-down-in-13-out-of-17-areas-of-hdb-living-including-cleanliness-noise-privacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=17579","title":{"rendered":"Residents\u2019 satisfaction down in 13 out of 17 areas of HDB living, including cleanliness, noise, privacy"},"content":{"rendered":"


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SINGAPORE \u2013 Residents were less satisfied in several aspects of HDB living \u2013 including cleanliness, noise level and privacy within their flats \u2013 although overall levels mostly remain above 90 per cent. <\/p>\n

Satisfaction levels dropped in 13 out of 17 areas compared with the previous survey in 2018, results of the <\/p>\n

latest HDB Sample Household Survey published on Nov 27<\/p>\n

<\/a> showed. <\/p>\n

About 7,000 households and more than 1,600 single occupiers across all HDB towns and estates were surveyed in 2023 and 2024 for the latest study, which is conducted once every five years.<\/p>\n

The survey, which asked respondents about their level of satisfaction with 20 areas of the HDB physical living environment, found that the areas with the lowest satisfaction were noise levels and cleanliness.<\/p>\n

Satisfaction with noise levels had slid to 74 per cent in the latest survey from 75.7 per cent in 2018, while that for cleanliness fell to 76.4 per cent from 77.4 per cent.<\/p>\n

In its report, HDB said the main reasons for dissatisfaction with noise levels were disturbances by neighbours or noise from the external environment, such as from traffic.<\/p>\n

The reasons cited regarding cleanliness were irregular cleaning and inconsiderate behaviours such as littering and hoarding of common areas.<\/p>\n

Professor Sing Tien Foo, provost\u2019s chair professor of real estate at NUS Business School, said that as HDB has maintained a very high standard for public housing, residents tend to be sensitive to \u201csoft\u201d components that affect their daily lives, such as cleanliness and noise disturbances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese factors are much more difficult for HDB to plan for, and would require residents to play a bigger role in mitigating noise and to take greater responsibility for keeping their neighbourhood and the surrounding areas clean,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Remote working could have also led to<\/p>\n

<\/a> the decrease in satisfaction for cleanliness and noise levels, as such people would be directly affected by the living environment due to being at home for longer periods, he added.<\/p>\n

Other areas that saw a fall in satisfaction included the size of flat, view from flat, spaciousness of housing estate and the ease of cycling within the respondent\u2019s HDB town.<\/p>\n

The highest drops compared with 2018 were: maintenance of the housing estate, which went down by 6.9 percentage points to 85.5 per cent, privacy within flat (down by 6.6 percentage points) and variety of flat types offered (down by 4.9 percentage points).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, four areas showed an increase in satisfaction. Safety from traffic, safety measures within the precinct and provision of carpark went up marginally, between 0.1 and 0.9 percentage points, while the purchase price or rental rate of the respondent\u2019s flat was up 7.4 percentage points to 88.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

Three areas \u2013 wayfinding within estate, accessibility or walkability to transport nodes, and amenities and services \u2013 could not be compared with the 2018 survey as they were new or asked differently. This section of the report was introduced in 2018.<\/p>\n

Sociologist Tan Ern Ser, an adjunct principal research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said the percentage changes up or down were marginal and not statistically significant, but they could have social significance.<\/p>\n

For instance, the decreased satisfaction levels relating to noise and cleanliness could be a result of the lack of civic consciousness shown by some residents, he said.<\/p>\n

ERA Singapore key executive officer Eugene Lim said there has been a shift in how HDB homes and neighbourhoods are built and designed, which could have led to satisfaction drops in areas such as size of flats and variety of flat types offered.<\/p>\n

He noted that flats have become smaller in size \u2013 currently, four-room flats are typically between 86 sq m and 89 sq m, compared with 90 to 104 sq m in older flats built in the 1980s and 1990s.<\/p>\n

Fewer five-room flats are also being offered in Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercises, with such larger flats being confined to non-mature estates, he added.<\/p>\n

Pointing out that satisfaction levels for \u201cview from flat\u201d dipped by 4.1 percentage points to 87.8 per cent, Mr Lim said many newer HDB units face inwards in their estate, overlooking other blocks or communal areas such as the multi-storey carpark.<\/p>\n