Our PPHS
Hello!
This is the highly requested entry on my Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme that everyone asked for.๐ No la just joking la only 7 person responded to my Instagram story when I did a poll lol. But nonetheless, I have been meaning to post about our BTO and PPHS journey in case we forget what we went through. I realized that the internet didn't share much about PPHS (only have very generic information), so you have to experience it to know so I am here to share so that you have some heads up. Many of our friends whom are still waiting for their BTO did not know of such scheme and wished that they found out about it 4 years ago so this is sacred information haha.
Okay, so what is this PPHS?
The definition on HDB's webpage: As part of the enhanced Marriage & Parenthood Package, the PPHS helps to temporarily house families as they await the completion of their new flats. Over the years, the scheme has been extended to include more family types.
In layman terms: it is a "cheap" rental flat to stay with your husband/wife-to-be while waiting for your BTO if you are:
1) Badly affected by the BTO delay due to Covid19
2) Going to move in/living with mother in law from hell after your marriage
3) Simply intending to shift out and start a family etc
then my entry this might interest you.
Other factors includes we cannot live life the way we want, as after all, our parents are the home owners. If we would like to keep pets, we have to seek approval from our parents. If we are coming home late we have to be very silent and not wake the whole family. And Zee wants some ไบไบบไธ็ before having kids. The major factor is we are both in our late 20s and our BTO DPD is in 2027 :)FML
Application for PPHS:
You may apply for your PPHS via HDB's website, through a ballot system again haha just like your BTO. You have to pay a non refundable $10 again, and you can try as many times until you get an appointment with HDB again. The PPHS "launch" is monthly so if you did not get it on your first time, you can try again and again and again and again hahaha okay sorry for laughing but I guess Zee and I finished our luck. We secured our BTO on our first attempt and we had a nice queue number. Unfortunately we gotten our PPHS after X number of tries.
Available PPHS flats:
Please check where is the available town as you don't want to "use your luck" on towns that you do not want to live in. HDB provide a list of flats that is available and it is updated monthly when we were applying. We skipped a month (I think in Feb) as we do not want to live at Boon Lay or Bukit Batok. As of August 2021, HDB has updated the eligibility for PPHS:
When we applied there was no ceiling income so thank heaven thank earth we gotten our PPHS already, $7000 ceiling income = no need to apply liao.๐ Heng ah. So now only the poor can apply PPHS which is nonsense IMO since most people's monthly salary is above $3500 and even with $3600 salary, rent outside is crazy expensive!
Tip: Always go down to the location and have a look at the neighborhood and your direct neighbors. You wont want to stay beside a family who hoards the entire corridor walkway with their plants and burn incense paper or rubbish or cook curry 24/7.
And also, you should pick the flat that is most convenient. For us, we are 2 mins away from a MRT station that is opening in 2 years time ๐ but we have many many buses to many places and a direct bus to our office. There is a 24 hours Giant supermarket, 2 coffeeshops, 1 hawker, 1 wet market and many small shops within 2 mins walk. The nearest shopping mall is 10 minutes walk / 2 bus-stops away, so everything is really convenient.
Procedure on PPHS:
It is very similar to your BTO, after HDB release the results, you and your fiancรฉe will need to go down to Toa Payoh HDB Hub to sign the lease and pay stamp fees, the deposit + first month's rent.
Cost on PPHS:
& the reason why I quote so called cheap is because the cost of the rent depends on the location you guys are picking and what type of lifestyle you would like to have for the next 5 to 7 years. My suggestion is that you do not bite off more than you can chew.
Prices are from $400-$1500 per month and it excludes utility bills, furniture and appliances. Basically, you are only renting an empty house from HDB. There is no water heater, no stove, no fridge, no light bulbs. The unit will only have a main door, bedroom doors, floor tiles, electric points, toilet door, toilet bowl, toilet sink and kitchen sink. These were very important information as we completely had no idea what was available in the house until we opened the door to the unit, and we wanted to be financially prepared (haha occupation hazard as we are both in the financial industry). So you really need to know how much are you able to budget aside for your rental and furnishing.
These are photos of our PPHS unit on the day we gotten out keys from HDB. We chose a good date and rolled a pineapple haha We were quite impressed by the switches, as the flat we chose is 30 over years old, we totally did not expect something relatively modern. Overall the flat is within our expectations but you will need to do your own cleaning for the first few days as it was very dusty. We did a full wash down of the entire house including windows at least 10 times before it starts to feel clean. The first few days our feet were black.
Please also note this tip:
When you collect your keys from HDB TPY, they will inform you that your unit does not have any water/gas/electricity. You will need to go to another floor in HDB TPY to get SP Services to activate it for you and this is not immediate. Meaning after collecting keys, you will need to book an appointment with SP Services, and it depends when they are able to activate for you. If you would like immediate activation, there is s $60 fee involved. So you guys should manage your time and might need to delay moving in.
So we did our shopping for furniture and appliances and only officially moved in a week later from collecting our keys. I want to stress the word "cheap" here that it really depends on how cheap or lavish you want your lifestyle to be.
We picked a 2 room flat as there is going to be just only the two of us for now, and even when one or two kids comes along before the BTO is ready, we would still be able to cope with this cozy space. Cleaning and furnishing would be easy too, and since the house is small, there won't be a "baby-can-you-go-toilet-with-me moment" in the middle of the night. LOL๐ป
Let me break it down further for you guys.
You will need to pay :
1) First month rental
2) 1 Month deposit
3) Stamp duties
4) Conservancy charges
5) Furniture (Bed, Sofa, TV, Dinning table, Wardrobe, Kitchen Cabinet, Shoe Rack, TV Console, mirror etc)
6) Appliances (Lights, Fridge, Kettle, Washing Machine, Dryer, Water Heater, TV, Rice Cooker, Fan etc)
7) Broadband
8) Utilities
There was an article by Straits Times reported that a couple spent about $6000 on furnishing their PPHS. Zee and I already spent more than $10,000 on furnishing, excluding bills and rent. And this is not the final amount yet as we are pending aircon installations. This is excluding an induction cooker, mahjong table/tiles, kitchen table, dressing table, queen size bed, mattress, pillow, blanket and bedsheet cover as I brought them over from my parent's place. So it really depends on what type of lifestyle you guys would like. My advice is that you have to make sure you/your spouse have this amount of money before moving out or do not have high expectations. Go out and shop with your partner and have a discussion on what are the necessary furniture, how much is your combined budget, budget for individual item and how are you guys spitting the cost.
I think most girls will make their partner pay. So guys, at this point, it is time to re-consider your partner. You may be marrying the wrong girl! Unless you earn $10k and she only earns $2k, then ask yourself if you are prepared to be paying for the rest of your lives. If you are alright, then just proceed. If not you guys can consider 50/50 or ratio it according to your salary to be fair.
So when people make comments like "PPHS is cheap", ME:
Rule #1: Home owners are not allowed to do major renovation work of the flat (Like change the door or knock down any walls. The home will have to be returned in the same condition as when it was first rent to you. Things like drilling and painting are allowed, you will just need to cover the holes with plaster and paint everything back to white when you shift out.
For our case, Zee and I zhng-ed our PPHS unit. We did vinyl floor tiles which are clipped on so it is easy to remove it when we shift out next time. I found one contractor and was really keen in engaging their service but Zee insisted on supporting his colleague's father's friend which turned out to be a botched job.
Tip: Never look for contractors via friend's recommendation if the work will be done by their father/uncle/father's friend. Botched job and I cannot complain๐ Ew why would someone introduce a contractor they have never engaged.
After this experience, I will look for my own contractor for our BTO ๐
We wanted the house to look cozy and warm so we selected mainly brown/wooden furniture for the living room, gotten a rug from IKEA and semi-see through curtains for privacy. And to save space plus enhance the aesthetic of the house, we bought a ceiling fan instead of a standing fan and a 2 seater full leather recliner sofa.
Talking about IKEA, I highly do not recommend you to buy their kitchenware, at least not the OFTAST series. We ordered from IKEA thinking that its the cheapest but regretted it when we had our meals because the plates were really thin and it became too hot to hold. ๐ข So, I suggest getting from Table Matters or Daiso (YES DAISO HAS GOOD PLATES) ๐ฎ or just get another series from IKEA.
As I have mentioned many times throughout my post, it is all about your lifestyle and affordability. Zee and I really wanted our temporary home to be comfortable and a home where we can just chill and relax so we decided to go for quality instead as there is no point in saving money and end up not liking our home for 5 years. The biggest decision we had to make was the sofa because all the sofa we wanted was way above our initial budget. ๐๐ญ
So after many sofa showroom viewings, we settled for this at $1300๐ธ 2 seater full leather sofa, $30 pillow made from gold and also bought a Bed Bath N' Table throw to snuggle in the living room while watching Disney+/Netflix. TMD the throw over on 50% sale still need $69.95. ๐
But anyway it is worth it haha
The only thing we bought from Taobao was the bathroom mirror and toilet racks. I can never understand why people like to buy big ticket furniture from Taobao and make it such a big deal that they have just spent a bomb on a shopping site that is known for cheap stuffs. Is it every Singaporean's goal to get a BTO that cost half a million and then buy cheap furniture from Taobao?
We have a friend who bought a house for above $1 million, spent $130k on renovation but bought sofa from Taobao? ๐๐ Anyway, our friend regretted it and did not like the sofa quality haha although I have no idea how much is the sofa as it could be really expensive too but the moral of the story is if you pay peanuts you get monkey and if you cannot touch the item before buying, better donโt buy.
We are still pending for our wardrobe and air con installation.
We happily customized our wardrobe from a shop near TaiSeng before we moved in and after waiting for 6 weeks, the wardrobe did not arrive on the day it should have and there were no notifications to inform us. We had to call to find out that their factory is in Malaysia and because of MCO, they are not unable to assemble and deliver it on time. But the salesman told us they were hopeful that they can send it to us by July. July came and same thing, no notification and after much screaming at the salesman for not informing us and demanding a full refund, we got our money back and decided to buy from FortyTwo. So another 6 weeks of waiting except the model we selected is made in Singapore.
Tip: Do not buy from shops that is based in Malaysia and only accept cash/NETS payment during this pandemic as if there are any form of disputes, it is very difficult to get back your money. For payment done via credit cards, you may get help from the bank to file a merchant dispute via Visa/Master in the event your items are not delivered.
For aircon, in PPHS/rental housing it is generally not allowed to do so without any license. You will need to seek approval from HDB before installing it. Some reasons HDB will approve your license to install aircon in your PPHS:
1. Medical reasons- Skin allergy (Eczema)
2. Have baby/kid in the house.
For us, our neighbor is a smoker and he smokes inside his own home throughout day and night (which is legal so we cannot do anything). His kid is crazy, not sure if it is ADHD but the child will suddenly scream very loud a few times a day (like he got raped- as quoted from his mother) so it disturbs us day and night too. And I am talking about 4AM, we woke up a few times. These kind of things you won't find out unless after you move in.
It is almost our 3rd month moving in, and we really love and feel that the house is very cozy place to nua. When we like we can just invite our friends over for mahjong or steamboat. So the money spent is really worth it. We are so blessed to have gotten to know of this PPHS and able to secure a rental unit. We no longer need to stay over at each other's house while waiting for our BTO. And the best part is falling asleep next to the one I love and waking up to the same person everyday. First and last person I see every day and night. ๐
Ultimately, I feel that couples who are considering for a PPHS should apply when they are financially stable and the relationship should be as strong as Vibranium (captain America's shield lol). Of course, there are many other considerations but I feel that the above 2 are minimum standards. I encourage couples who have the capability to apply for PPHS but if you have no extra budget then please just tahan and stay at your in laws or continue living separately until your BTO is ready. Just my two cents as after all, it is just a temporary home for 3~7 years depending on when your BTO is ready.
& remember, before applying for your PPHS you might want to sit down and talk to your other half about house chore duties. An unavoidable topic where couples bound to fight ๐ Because the both of you will no longer be staying at your parents house which means no parents to help vacuum and mop the floor. No parents to help you do the laundry. No parents to cook and wash the dishes for you๐ It's either her or his duties. The best way/advice we have gotten is to list the types of chores required and select/draw lots on who is the person in charge.
For us, Zee will be in charge of cleaning the toilet + emptying the trash + doing laundry (easy peasy please! dump clothes in the washing machine and press buttons, then after that dump it into the dryer and press more buttons).
I am in charge of cooking/washing the dishes (basically kitchen duties) + vacuum/mop the floor + changing bedsheets. Feel like I have picked laborious duties but thankfully we have a Dyson vacuum- A GOOD INVESTMENT! Please buy! ๐
I hope anyone reading this will benefit something from this post. I guess whatever that I know is already in this post, if you have questions that was not covered in this post you can leave me a comment and hopefully I will reply when I see it.
Cheers!
Fun Fact: Zee's surname is Phay and my surname is Lau. So our wedding hashtag is gna be PhayNiDaoLau as in Phayไฝ ๅฐLau (้ชไฝ ๅฐ่) meaning <With you till the end>.
& This blog's domain was supposed to be PhayNiDaoLau, which I signed up for but stupidly deleted it by accident so I now cannot use it ๐๐ญ So tadah, have changed it to PhayWoDaoLau instead <With me till the end> hahahahahahaha
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