In Singapore, Your Landlord is Most Likely the Government

In the small city-state of Singapore, few people can afford to have a private residence. Instead, citizens have to obtain government-operated public housing, which is 80% of the dwellings in Singapore.

The requirements to get public housing are stiff: the applicants must have continuous employment for at least a year, be at least 21 and married or with plans to be married, be at least 35 if they're single, and have no ownership of private housing. But once the applicant has signed the dotted line, the apartment is theirs to sell.

Neal Peirce analyzes, "It's easy for outsiders to say there's government-enforced conformity in Singapore. And indeed, a nationwide set of government-underwritten social clubs provides constant recreation and educational activities, targeted at age groups ranging from little children to elders on canes. The conformity and government sponsorship might concern Americans. But the delivered, year-in, year-out services, clearly enriching Singaporeans' peoples' lives, far outshine those in all but the most affluent most U.S. communities."