Background
There was a lot of talk about Design, Build & Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats in Singapore 2-3 years ago, in particular the pricing, which the public saw as highly inflated figures for public housing. DBSS flats are basically flats marketed and built by Private Developers, with the units done up in order to save the buyers the trouble of engaging their own renovation work. As far as DBSS flats were concerned, owners just had to do up the lights and get the furniture in, then pack their bags and move in!
Like all HDB flats, DBSS flats still follow HDB rules & regulations, 1 of which is to fulfill a Minimum Occupation Period of 5 years before the owners can sell or lease the whole flat. Adora Green, located at Yishun Avenue 11, or simply ‘Next to SAFRA Yishun’, is currently completed and owners are moving into the homes gradually.
We shall now take a sneak peek into one of the homes at Adora Green and everything else will be up for discussion.
Living room of 4-rm flat at Adora Green
Inside Adora Green
The units, as mentioned earlier, comes fully done up with tiles, electrical points, doors, kitchen tops and cabinets etc. The first impression that I had of this home (90 Sqm) was that it is fully functional in terms of its layout, which means a very minimal waste of space. After all, when buying homes we want to get all of the size we paid for if possible!
The balcony is large for a 4-rm flat, certainly enough space for a coffee table and a couple of chairs. Tiles are of non-slippery surface too and any rainwater runs off easily into the drainage pipes. Not a bad way to spend the evenings after work!
Corridor leading to bedrooms
The layout of the bedrooms are linear, with a common room all the way at the end. First room on the right is a common room, then the Master bedroom in the middle. Nicely segregated.
View of first common room on the right
All rooms come with Built-in Wardrobes, so owners save the hassle of looking around for wardrobes that can fit the rooms. There’s enough space for a ‘super-single’ bed and study desk, and still enough room to step about.
View from Master Bedroom, KTP Hospital in the background
This unit faces the Yishun park, and at the foot of the block is a bus stop that will see services running in the very near future. Adora Green is approximately 10 minutes bus ride away from Yishun MRT station. One trend I noticed amongst residents who stay near Nature Reserves or parks etc tend to adopt a healthier lifestyle. A lot of them run in the evenings after work, that probably explains why a lot of Singaporeans are quite fit and slim!
The Master bathroom
WYSIWYG. The space for the bathrooms are in fact quite generous, certainly not the midget types where you can’t even turn once you step in.
Kitchen is equipped with hood & hob
Small kitchen counter strategically placed
One of the important places for most home owners, the kitchen is perpendicularly next to the Main Entrance and cabinets are all done up. The breeze can be felt quite strongly in the kitchen, which makes it rather ideal for drying laundry if one doesn’t buy a dryer.
A new concept of Laundry poles
At Adora Green, the laundry rack is fixed to the ceiling as shown in image, and it employs either a spring or piston system(not quite sure what it’s called), but in essence users can be assured of safety because when pulling it down or pushing it up it will not snap and destroy the ceiling or injure anyone. The rack is first pulled down and then pushed out to protrude halfway out the kitchen windows when drying laundry.
Adora Green uses City Gas
View from the Master bedroom and balcony
One interesting point to note is that in the past, people shunned properties that were near hospitals. It was tied with the notion of death and the more superstitious ones believed that such properties would be ‘unlucky’ to live in. Nowadays, any homes near a hospital is seen to be of greater value because of the accessibility to medical care!
Is the DBSS flat worth the pricier quantum then, when compared to a Built-To-Order (BTO) flat? We can throw Location, Amenities, Scenery, Transport all into the picture and debate about it, but it is totally up to individual’s perspective, because at the end of the day if the family loves the home they have bought, and they are happy living in it day after day, who’s to say it’s not worth the price? Value, after all, is not always about numbers.
Click Here to watch a short video of the interior of the unit.
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