HOUSING PREFERENCES FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Abstract

The educational landscape in Singapore had undergone rapid changes in the past decades especially during the last few years due to the effect of globalization as many underdeveloped nations around the regions opened up their economies to the world. This had resulted in massive influx of foreign students into Singapore and to cope with the rising tide of foreigners seeking enhancement of their knowledge and skill here as well as opportunity for a better life with a good living standard in Singapore. Our government had to rapidly enhance the standard of education in Singapore to develop, capture and maintain our status as a world renowned international educational hub. This had inevitably resulted in the additional demand for housing, to cater to the rapid increasing numbers of international students. Literature reviews and research are conducted on current student housing segment in UK. Surveys were also carried out on 180 foreign students to derive on their housing preferences. Descriptive inferences are made from the results derived from the survey and it is found that rental, closeness to their institutions, security and good furnishings are the top 4 factors when been asked for their ideal accommodation. Further discussions on the findings are concluded and recommendations for future research or solutions on the housing problems are suggested.