LIKE several Seletar Camp residents, Singaporean Xavier Edwards did not blink at spending thousands to beautify his rented home.

But now, nearly half the households have to move out as the land is to be used for an aerospace park.

While some residents spent between $5,000 and $12,000 on swimming pools, Mr Edwards said he spent a whopping $200,000 constructing three Balinese huts eight years ago.

His 7,000 sq ft bungalow house, which he rents for $3,000 a month, resembles a Balinese resort. They include an air-conditioned hut with glass walls - half the size of a one-room flat - which is used as an office.

Another is a family chill-out area with daybeds overlooking another elevated open-air hut flanked by two koi ponds and a play area.

Extravagant or foolish?

Now, Seletar residents like Mr Xavier Edwards, a 53-year-old businessman, are grappling with the fact that they will lose everything they had invested IN their rented homes.

This week, they found out about their fate when JTC Corporation unveiled its masterplan of the new Seletar Aerospace Park. (See report on facing page).

More than half of the existing 320 black-and-white colonial homes will have to make way for the new park. Two new access roads will run directly to the aerospace facility from the current Tampines Expressway, allowing more traffic to bypass the old entrance via Jalan Kayu and Piccadilly Circus.

Some will be converted to food and beverage outlets and 131 units will stay as residences.

They will have the option to extend their current lease which expires at the end of next year, for another two years.

After that, it's up to the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) which owns the land, to decide on its future.

Mr Edwards' one-storey bungalow house at Hay Market is affected by the new aerospace plans.

He will have to move out by the end of next year when the current lease expires.

He told The New Paper on Sunday: "Many of us (residents) thought we will be staying here for good. We didn't think that there will be major plans along the pipeline some 10 years ago.

"Even if there were, none of us thought the residents would be affected.

"So I added new features to the house eight years ago since we have the luxury of space.

"But I can't take any of these (Balinese huts) with me when I move out next year. The fixtures will be left behind."

Mr Edwards, who lives with his wife and three teenage children, moved to Seletar from a Bukit Timah condominium 12 years ago.

 

But he isn't the only one grappling with the losses.

Mr Edwards' younger brother, who lives five minutes away at Knights Bridge Road, is among them.

Eight years ago, the 46-year-old events organiser packed his bags from a four-room flat in Hougang to a semi-detached house at Seletar after he saw his elder brother's home.

Mr Gerald Edwards, 46, built two open-air attap huts in front of his house not long after.

One is a games room and another is used for entertaining. The monthly rental for his 3,000sq ft home is $1,500.

In two months, he spent over $50,000 on building materials and extensive garden landscaping.

FEEL THE PINCH

The father of two girls aged 10 and 14 lamented: "I feel the pinch because I will be losing a huge sum of money.

"The house was bare and there wasn't much greenery within our compound. I bought palm tress and fern trees costing over $3,000. We have to leave everything behind.

"It hurts the pocket."

And they will feel the pinch when they move into a new home in 1 1/2 years as rental has skyrocketed.

One resident at Knights Bridge who declined to be named said: "I have been paying $1,500 a month in the last few years. Now rental for a HDB four-room flat costs at least $1,000. Where am I going to find the same deal for this much of space?

"Buy a property? It's a bad time too."

Residential rentals went up 7.6 per cent in the first quarter this year after having jumped 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2006.

Flat rentals, on the other hand, rose by 8.1 per cent, up from 5.8 per cent in the previous quarter, said an Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) quarterly report.

Property experts say residential rentals will rise as much as 25 per cent this year.

Mr Xavier Edwards is considering moving to Perth with his family if he can't find another location like Seletar, with an affordable monthly rental between $3,000 and $4,000.

Moving into an apartment is not an option because the family has grown accustomed to living on landed property.

Mr Gerald Edwards said he will be house-hunting around the Seletar Hills Estate, Thomson Road and Jalan Kayu area. He is prepared to fork out twice what he is paying now.

One family of five rented two adjoining units along Duke Street early this year.

Madam Teresa Seah, 64, told The New Paper on Sunday: "We were on the waiting list for three years. Even though there was a lot of uncertainty last year, we made a decision to move from our Serangoon Gardens landed property to live here till early 2009.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Some residents said they would be appealing to JTC so they can continue living in Seletar after 2008.

Explained Mr Gerald Edwards: "If we appeal, we got nothing to lose at this point."

It was a response JTC had anticipated when it met the residents on Tuesday.

A list of addresses of those who had another two-year option till 2010 was released that night.

They include some at Regent Street, Sussex Gardens, Mornington Crescent, Oxford Street, Maida Vale, Brompton Road, Edgware Road and Lambeth Walk.

Mr Leong Hong Yew, JTC Corporation's deputy director for industrial development (East), said they had tried their best to balance the needs of the industry and community, but some will be unhappy.

Despite the bad news, the Edwards and Seahs said they have no regrets moving to Seletar.

Said Madam Seah: "There is no other place like Seletar. When we move, we will bring along the great memories of the village and the people."