Let · Kovan · September 2026
Charlton Lane, District 19. Eight hundred and fifty square feet, freehold, in a block of eight. The owner designed it for herself, and it has never been let before.
01 · What it is
The original walls came out. The ceiling was raised. The lighting was buried in the recesses rather than hung off the slab. It is one of only two apartments of this size in the building, and the layout no longer matches the published floor plan, because that plan describes a flat that does not exist here any more.
The contractor who built it asked whether he could photograph it for a magazine. The owner said no.
It is now being let for the first time.
02 · Three things worth knowing
Six figures of renovation, none of it done for resale. Cove lighting throughout, a stone-topped dining table under three pendants, an integrated fridge, and two bathrooms deliberately given different characters, one in stone, one in terrazzo.
The second bedroom sits behind a black-framed frosted glass sliding door, with its own internal window onto the living room. It is currently set up as a study. Use it either way.
Eight apartments in the entire freehold block. South facing, so no afternoon sun in the bedroom. Nothing overlooks the living room, and there is a slice of the skyline from the sofa. Quiet enough to leave the windows open.
03 · The second bedroom
On paper this is a two-bedroom apartment, and it is. The owner reconfigured the second bedroom as a study, behind frosted glass in a black frame, with an internal glazed window through to the living room so it never feels sealed off.
If you work from home, or take calls at hours that do not suit the rest of the flat, keep it as it is. If you need the second bedroom as a bedroom, use it as one. It is a proper room either way, which is not true of most two-bedders at this size.
04 · The rooms
05 · The honest part
There is no pool and no gym. No lobby, no concierge, no function room, no BBQ pits. It is an eight-unit walk-up built in 1991.
If facilities are what you are paying for, this is not the flat, and there are better options two streets away. That is said here so nobody wastes a Saturday.
If privacy, quiet, and a home somebody actually designed are what you are paying for, I have not found another flat like it at this size in Kovan.
06 · The details
| Let at, Sep 2026 | $3,900 / month |
| Utilities and internet | Not included |
| Floor area | 850 sq ft |
| Layout | 2 bedrooms |
| Second bedroom | Set up as a study |
| Bathrooms | 2 |
| Furnishing | Fully furnished |
| Facing | South |
| Tenure | Freehold |
| Built | 1991 |
| Units in block | 8 |
| Viewings | Two weekends, let after the second |
| Preferred lease | 2 years |
| Pets | Not permitted |
| Maintenance fees | Paid by landlord |
07 · Getting around
| Kovan MRT, NE13 | 8 min walk |
| Serangoon, NEX and the Circle Line interchange | 1 stop |
| Hougang | 1 stop |
| Dhoby Ghaut, Orchard | 7 stops, direct |
| Chinatown, CBD | 9 stops, direct |
| HarbourFront, VivoCity | 11 stops, direct |
No interchange to the city. Hougang becomes a Cross Island Line interchange around 2030.
This one is let
Message me and tell me roughly where it is and when it will be free. I will tell you what I would price it at, how I would present it, and what it would cost you.
Joseph Louis Tan