When I was a child (i.e. just after the dinosaurs), the home was an important source of stimulation. There were no game consoles, only a kitchen island and a fish tank. I pretended they were a kitchen island and a fish tank, because my imagination is very limited. But the point is, you need to look for different home features if you have children and are renting an apartment.
1. Consider unfurnished apartments instead
With furnished apartments, most landlords will not allow many changes. Landlords often consult interior designers on Fittings, Furnishings, and Equipment (FF&E) as part of their renovation process – many have built the apartment around a particular theme (e.g. art deco, traditional Chinese, urban chic)
This will deprive you certain options that can make younger children more at home. You won’t be able to stencil the walls for a theme nursery, for example.
The main reason to choose unfurnished, however, is to protect your security deposit. Damage to furnishings is more likely when you have children, however well behaved they may be.
(And having a party for 10 year olds and their friends, in an apartment with $150,000 of designer furniture, is a good way to end up with a Xanax prescription.)
Unfurnished apartments can also be money savers – like 99.co on Facebook to get an update on these cost issues.
2. Consider social access, not just accessibility
You will want a place where your children can safely meet the neighbours and mingle. If you are renting a HDB flat, this is a foregone conclusion – the design of the estates, with their open void decks and shared play grounds/exercise facilities, are purpose built to facilitate this.
Your children find it easy to make friends, and your neighbours will be more impossible to get off your back than a wet t-shirt.
If you do want to live in a private condominium, check if the management council organises family activities (e.g. flea markets, tea parties, community cookouts.) Condominiums with active management councils are more likely to have strong communities, which will make it easier for your children to find friends.
3. Balcony and window safety
Most landlords will not install safety grilles on the windows, or high railings on balconies.
These are banned in some developments; the building managers want to maintain a uniform façade. Or just as likely, the interior design threw a hissy fit and refused to “like, design a prison of the soul, okay.”
This leaves things in your hands. You should ensure balcony walls are not climbable by children – a one metre height is used by most shopping malls, and is a good guideline. There also shouldn’t be features like steps or grooves, which will make the wall possible to climb.
If there are large windows that your child can easily fit through, you may want to install grilles on the inside (if it’s allowed), or look for units where the windows are not easily opened.
4. Vertical storage should be attached to the walls
Vertical storage refers to features like bookshelves or tall display cabinets. These exist to maximise space, and to provide YouTube with an endless series of fail videos when they fall on people.
As far as possible, vertical storage should be firmly attached to the walls. If that can’t be done, they should at least be pushed up against the wall, rather than be left free standing. Most landlords are flexible about this, but if yours isn’t then consider the falling danger to your children.
5. Newly renovated homes can actually be worse for children with asthma, or other respiratory issues
You’d think a brand, spanking new home would be cleaner and better for children with allergies, asthma, etc. Now that may be true, depending on how the renovation was done.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are toxins released from fresh paint, and especially from new carpeting. You know that “new building” smell? Congratulations, you were probably inhaling poison. VOCs cause severe lung irritation, and can worsen existing conditions like asthma.
VOCs can linger in a newly renovated home for weeks to months, depending on how the contractors did their jobs. So you should raise the issue with the landlord, and check whether they used low VOC paints, whether pesticides were used when laying the new carpet, etc.
6. Drop by the apartment at around 10pm, before renting
Most viewings take place in the day. The neighbours aren’t in. They could be a pair of bookish young teachers, or a pair of death metal rockers who lost their hearing 12 years ago and still haven’t noticed.
That’s why you want to drop by at night for a few minutes, just to check the noise level. If you have a toddler, or young children who need to go to school, this step is extremely vital.
This advice could save you having to hire a good defence attorney later.
It will take a lot of extra time to find a child-friendly apartment. Let’s be frank: human beings were not designed to live in little cubes.
But you can find the most comfortable and safe options. We can even save you time there, with the huge list of rental options on 99.co.
Republished with permission from: 99.co
