More help for couples who need temporary housing

Young couples will get more help in setting up their first home, with several enhancements to the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS), the Housing and Development Board (HDB) announced on Friday (Oct 31).

Under the scheme, couples and families have the option of renting an HDB flat while waiting for their new Build-To-Order (BTO) flat to be ready.

The number of flats in the scheme will be increased by 800 from the current 1,150 flats. The new supply comprises mainly three-room flats, spread over several towns such as Bukit Merah, Queenstown and Jurong West. These flats are currently being retrofitted and will be rolled out starting early next year, HDB said.

From Saturday, new applicants and existing tenants for PPHS flats will also have the option of co-renting their flats with another eligible household to reduce their rental expenses. Co-renting is available for all flat-types and a maximum of two eligible families can share one flat, HDB said.

In a blogpost on Friday, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said the PPHS scheme has been well received. “In fact, 110 babies have been born in PPHS flats so far. Not bad at all. I am glad to see that our housing policies are delivering results, and babies,” he wrote.