Clinic at Tampines HDB block secures unit with S$52K tendered rent
A new clinic set to open at Block 954C Tampines Street 96 will be paying a staggering S$52,188 in monthly rent.
According to documents released by the Housing & Development Board (HDB), the space was successfully tendered by Lum Sian Wei Shaun.
Source: HDB
The high rental bid has since made waves online, with many noting the steep price tag for a heartland location.
Screenshot first surfaced on LinkedIn
A screenshot of the document was first shared on LinkedIn by Dr Hisham Badaruddin, founder and CEO of Bartley Clinic, who called the sky-high price “obscene”.
His fellow doctors agreed, with one commenting that rent in Singapore is “abhorrently high”, especially for businesses.
Source: LinkedIn
Another commenter suggested the clinic might be an aesthetic practice, observing that more young doctors now pursue cosmetic work over traditional chronic care.
Source: LinkedIn
However, according to DocLah, Dr Lum — the successful tenderer — is listed as a General Practitioner (GP).
When asked what he would have expected for a clinic at that location, Dr Hisham cited rates at private medical centres for comparison: around S$17 per sq ft at Camden Medical and up to S$30 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital or Paragon Medical.
Assuming a typical HDB clinic size of under 1,000 sq ft, the Tampines rent works out to about S$52 per sq ft.
Source: LinkedIn
‘Absolutely insane’: Redditors weigh in on S$52K monthly rent
Dr Hisham’s later made its way to the r/Singapore subreddit, where the original poster (OP) questioned whether the figure marked a “new record”, referencing both million-dollar HDB resale flats and soaring rental prices.
“How do they even sustain?” they asked.
52k rental for clinic @ HDB area
byu/Weekly-Ad6866 insingapore
Since the post went up on Sunday (1 June), the thread has drawn over 220 comments, with netizens debating the feasibility of running a clinic amid rising rental costs in Singapore.
“52K is absolutely insane,” one user wrote, suggesting that the clinic would need to operate for long hours — possibly even 24/7 — to stay afloat.
Source: Reddit
Another questioned how much the clinic would have to charge for a basic consultation to break even.
Source: Reddit
One even broke down the monthly rent of S$52K into prices per consult and the number of patients the clinic would have to see a per month.
One commenter even did the maths, estimating that if the clinic charges S$50 per consultation, it would need to see at least 1,040 patients a month just to cover rent — excluding staff salaries and other overheads.
Source: Reddit
“It will be impossible to survive,” they concluded.
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Featured image adapted by studioroman on Canva, for illustration purposes only, and HDB.
