An additional 800 interim rental Housing Board flats will be set aside for families waiting for their Build-To-Order (BTO) flats to be completed, including those facing construction delays, but there will be stricter eligibility criteria to apply for these units.

To apply for a unit under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) from today, the household's combined monthly income cannot be more than $7,000, said the HDB yesterday.

The income reflected at the point of sale application for the BTO flat will be the basis for consideration, said the HDB. Households whose incomes have fallen to $7,000 and below since their sales application may contact the HDB directly.

The household income ceiling is to ensure that the flats are allocated to those who are less able to afford renting on the open market, said the HDB.

The PPHS provides interim housing to households awaiting the completion of their BTO flats, with units allocated by ballot.

Rents range from $400 for a two-room flat in Marsiling, and $600 for a three-roomer in Hougang, to $1,500 for a four-room unit in Tiong Bahru.

Priority will be given to married couples with children aged 18 and under in the selection of a PPHS flat ahead of other eligible applicants.

Applicants who do not select a flat after being invited twice will have to wait one year from the date of the second non-selection before they can apply for a PPHS flat again.

This also applies to those who did not proceed with payment after selecting a flat.

Half of the applicants who were invited to select a PPHS flat eventually did not do so, despite a rising number of applications since last year. "This could be due to a variety of reasons, such as locational preferences. However, this also suggests that not all applicants may be in urgent need of temporary housing," said the HDB.

The one-year wait-out period will allow applicants with more urgent housing needs to secure a flat more quickly, it added.

PPHS exercises will now be held once every two months, instead of monthly, to consolidate the flats to offer applicants a larger pool of units to choose from.

From the next PPHS exercise in October, applicants will have 14 days to submit their application.

Yesterday, the HDB said that about 200 of the additional 800 PPHS units will be ready this year and progressively released for application from the fourth quarter.

These additional flats include vacated flats at sites currently undergoing the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers), flats which are unsold, and possibly vacant staff apartments at various polytechnics that are available temporarily.

There are around 840 existing units under the scheme.

Demand for the interim flats doubled last year as more families were affected by construction delays to BTO units due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The HDB had received 2,350 applications under the PPHS compared with 1,370 in 2019.

The scheme has supported more than 3,000 families since it began in 2013.

The stricter eligibility conditions and allocation process come as the HDB said the supply of PPHS flats remains limited, even as the HDB increases its stock of such units.

Yesterday, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said in a Facebook post: "The delays in BTO completion mean that... tenants now stay longer in their PPHS flats, thus slowing down the return of the flats to HDB for subsequent tenants. The shortage of construction workers has also led to delays in sprucing up the flats after they are returned to HDB."

Buyers waiting for their BTO flats are encouraged by the HDB to continue living with their families or consider renting from the open market.

Potential home buyers should also take into account the waiting time of BTO flats before making a purchase, the HDB added.

An accountant who wanted to be known only as Ms Low, 27, said she was disappointed to hear of the income cap, as her combined household income was slightly above $7,000 when she and her husband applied for a Toa Payoh BTO flat in February last year.

Ms Low is living with her in-laws but cited space constraints as the main reason for wanting to move out.

With a current combined household income of around $10,000, the mother of a 10-month-old said it is possible to rent on the open market.

But she added: "I can afford renting on the open market, but raising a kid doesn't come cheap and paying rental outside makes it difficult to save for a rainy day and future BTO renovation."