Tampines HDB resident bothered by persistent leak from ceiling, uses inflatable pool to collect water
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Tampines HDB resident bothered by persistent leak from ceiling, uses inflatable pool to collect water
HDB resident complains of water leak from home ceiling
A Tampines HDB resident has been plagued by a water leak on his balcony ceiling since late Nov 2025.
However, despite the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the Tampines Town Council’s involvement, the issue has not been resolved to this day, as his neighbour allegedly remains uncooperative.
35-year-old Mr Chong, who works in the fitness industry, told MS News that he has stayed in the flat for 25 years and currently lives with his mother.
Water leak has been going since Nov 2025
Mr Chong first noticed water stains and cracks on the balcony ceiling in late Nov 2025.
Image courtesy of Mr Chong.
Initially, he suspected it was due to the Tampines Town Council painting the entire building in mid-November.
He immediately raised the matter to HDB, and claimed that an officer inspected his unit that same month.
After the town council looked into the matter, their personnel repainted the exterior of the balcony and did a water spray test.
The test did not reveal any leakage, so they suspected the issue was caused by something else.
Resident complains about lack of urgency
As the problem persisted, Mr Chong waited for an update from the officer for his next action.
Image courtesy of Mr Chong.
However, after calling the HDB hotline numerous times, Mr Chong was told in Dec 2025 that the officer was on leave.
As such, the case was being handled by someone else.
“This doesn’t reflect the profession of public servant or sense of urgency where they should take the initiative to inform me,” said Mr Chong to MS News.
In January, Mr Chong finally got in touch with the officer.
However, he was disappointed when his tone suggested he did not have any remorse about the lack of updates.
Upstairs neighbour not responding
During a subsequent visit, HDB officers who inspected the ceiling observed that it was unusually cold to the touch.
They thus suspected that the water dripping from Mr Chong’s balcony ceiling was caused by an air conditioning pipe leak.
The officer then tried to liaise with Mr Chong’s upstairs neighbour to further investigate, but reportedly received no response.
Screenshots shared by Mr Chong to MS News also showed that the neighbour involved did not respond to his messages.
Image courtesy of Mr Chong.
Resident catches water in inflatable pool
Initially, Mr Chong used a bucket to catch the water dripping from the ceiling, then it became two.
Image courtesy of Mr Chong.
Currently, the water leakage has spread to the point that he has resorted to containing it in an inflatable pool.
“I am running out of patience as the leakage has started to spread to the point that I have to contain the leakage with an inflatable swimming pool,” he told MS News.
Mr Chong added that clearing the water everyday has become his “new normal”.
Image courtesy of Mr Chong.
Worried that ceiling may collapse
Mr Chong claims that the case has been reassigned to officers who still have not visited his upstairs neighbour.
He remains frustrated by what he considers slow response from authorities, and alleges that his calls are often not picked up.
The resident fears his balcony ceiling would give in and cause an accident, similar to an incident in June 2025, where a 65-year-old man was hit and injured by falling concrete in his Yishun HDB unit.
“I don’t know how long my balcony ceiling is going to hold for before any casualty,” he expressed.
Authorities send proposal to fix water leak
MS News understands that the authorities have sent a proposal to Mr Chong to rectify the ceiling leak.
Mr Chong claimed that the proposal is to send an engineer to his unit in mid-June to “apply some ‘glue'” to stop the leaking.
“However, this does not stop the source,” the resident said, adding that he believes this is a “temporary bandage”.
Mr Chong also revealed that the authorities are seeking advice from their legal team on what measures to take to make his upstairs neighbour cooperate, so the source of the leak can be found.
Timeline of resolution depends on flat owners’ cooperation
A written answer by the Ministry of National Development on HDB inter-floor cases published on 6 May stated that HDB receives an average of about 17,000 reports on inter-floor leaks yearly.
The majority of these cases are resolved smoothly between flat owners within two to four months.
However, the time it takes to resolve cases depends on the “complexity of each case and the level of cooperation from the parties involved”.
“As at end-March 2026, 10 cases have taken longer than four months to resolve as the upper floor flat owners were not cooperative,” the statement read.
“HDB has already taken, or plans to take legal action, against these flat owners.”
As a last resort, HDB may “initiate civil proceedings against uncooperative upper floor flat owners” or forcibly enter their units.
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Featured image adapted from Mr Chong.
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