Has the office rental market in Singapore become too 'frothy'?

Freelance Research Analyst

Tay Hock Meng

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Singapore Real estate / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>In a Business Times news article published on November 20, 2014, it was reported JTC together with Urban&nbsp;Redevelopment Authority (URA) are looking into creating a separate category for Type B-1 industrial space and&nbsp;office space usage. The planned location that will be a test bed for this new classification was cited to be&nbsp;somewhere near the Woodlands Industrial Estate. One of the main objectives arising from this potential new&nbsp;classification was to address the various concerns expressed by many industrialists on the relative high costs of&nbsp;office rentals, resulting in many firms choosing to relocate outside of Singapore, or seeking out various methods&nbsp;to ‘skirt’ around the strict regulations governing Type B-1 industrial space usage.</li><li>Under the current JTC regulations, there must be at least 60 percent of the total floor area in each strata unit in a&nbsp;Type B-1 development to be set aside for core industrial activities such as clean and light manufacturing,&nbsp;assembly and repair, or warehouse and storage. The balance of the 40 percent can be allocated only for ancillary&nbsp;offices or support services such as technical service centres, and furniture showrooms, among others. Standalone&nbsp;offices such as attorney offices, architecture firms, and banks, among others are strictly prohibited.</li><li>In this article, we will like to examine the historical Type B-1 rental trends by region; the percentage spread&nbsp;difference between office rentals located in the central region and multiple industrial space rentals; and vacancy&nbsp;rates of both office and industrial spaces in order to determine whether a new classification is warranted or what&nbsp;are the potential policy implications arising from such a revamp in regulations governing industrial space&nbsp;usages.</li></ul>

In a Business Times news article published on November 20, 2014, it was reported JTC together with Urban&nbsp;Redevelopment Authority (URA) are looking into creating a separate category for Type B-1 industrial space and&nbsp;office space usage. The planned location that will be a test bed for this new classification was cited to be&nbsp;somewhere near the Woodlands Industrial Estate. One of the main objectives arising from this potential new&nbsp;classification was to address the various concerns expressed by many industrialists on the relative high costs of&nbsp;office rentals, resulting in many firms choosing to relocate outside of Singapore, or seeking out various methods&nbsp;to ‘skirt’ around the strict regulations governing Type B-1 industrial space usage.Under the current JTC regulations, there must be at least 60 percent of the total floor area in each strata unit in a&nbsp;Type B-1 development to be set aside for core industrial activities such as clean and light manufacturing,&nbsp;assembly and repair, or warehouse and storage. The balance of the 40 percent can be allocated only for ancillary&nbsp;offices or support services such as technical service centres, and furniture showrooms, among others. Standalone&nbsp;offices such as attorney offices, architecture firms, and banks, among others are strictly prohibited.In this article, we will like to examine the historical Type B-1 rental trends by region; the percentage spread&nbsp;difference between office rentals located in the central region and multiple industrial space rentals; and vacancy&nbsp;rates of both office and industrial spaces in order to determine whether a new classification is warranted or what&nbsp;are the potential policy implications arising from such a revamp in regulations governing industrial space&nbsp;usages.

Capitaland Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT SP)

Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MCT SP)

Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MAGIC SP)

Ying Li International Real Estate Ltd (YINGLI SP)

Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMRT SP)

Soilbuild Business Space REIT (SBREIT SP)

Pacific Century Regional Developments (PAC SP)

Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (FLT SP)

Singapore Real Esate: Potential policy implications resulting from creating a new classification between Type B-1 industrial  space and office space