Touring Paya Lebar Crescent landed estate: Freehold & leasehold homes from $2.3m

This week, we're doing a tour of Paya Lebar Crescent and its nearby streets.

I'd actually been to the area a few years ago, when taking my Mom on a jaunt down memory lane (she lived nearby when she was young) and, to be honest, wasn't super impressed when I first visited.

The area felt quite industrial (as I drove there via Bartley Road East which is a Business District) and ulu as there didn't seem to be much around.  

I travelled through the dark purple areas on the bottom right of the map, when I first visited, and was driving through what felt to be endless factories and commercial buildings.

However, this time back, I was pleasantly surprised and found the area quite charming! For this jaunt, I went by the PIE, followed by Upper Paya Lebar road, and my impression of the area was totally different!

Also, given that the estate is in between two MRT stations (approximately 15 minutes to Bartley MRT or 20 minutes to Serangoon MRT (and Nex mall!!), it's not as ulu as you might think. It's actually not far away from Braddell Heights estate, which we visited a few weeks back.

Before we start on our walkthrough, let's define the area we're looking a today. It basically looks like a > on the map with two cul-de-sacs running through the mouth of the ">" shape. It consists of only a few roads: Paya Lebar Crescent (the main artery of the estate) which runs into a small lane (Paya Lebar Place) and the two cul-de-sacs, Paya Lebar Walk (smaller section) and Jalan Kelichap (larger.)

Paya Lebar Crescent also leads onto Jalan Lokam and Tai Keng estate, which we won't be covering today as it spans too large of an area to do it justice here. On the other end of Paya Lebar Crescent estate (so towards the North) is Lorong Ah Soo with its HDB apartments and Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Primary).

Note: On the subject of schools, there is also Maris Stella High School (Primary) near by. Whether or not it falls within the coveted 1 km mark, will depend on the number of the house!

Around Lorong Ah Soo there are several HDB estates, which obviously mean lots of amenities, such as hawker stalls and even a dialysis centre!

But anyway, let's start our tour of the area by looking at the 2 cul-de-sacs since it's easier to cover them more comprehensively! The first cul-de-sac we're looking at is Jalan Kelichap, also the larger of the 2. 

Note: I'm trying to avoid the word "dead end" so as not to offend people but there aren't many other synonyms for cul-de-sac!

The entrance to Jalan Kelichap is between Paya Lebar Walk and Jalan Lokam and it is one of the most crowded estates that I have ever been to. I couldn't find a single space to park, despite it being a weekday, during office hours when I visited. I wonder how much worse things get once everyone has driven back from the office.

Interestingly, some are 99-year leasehold whilst others are freehold, according to PropertyGuru.

As such, prices ranged between $2.6 million to over $7 million at the time of writing. Here's a video of a 99-year corner terrace there.

One thing to highlight is the split living and dining room. Whilst that's not uncommon in older houses, the split here is quite a bit higher than normal!

FYI: The 73 99-year leasehold houses at Tai Keng Villas were built by Far East Organisation in Dec 1999 with leases dating back to 1996.

Apparently, their coffee is formulated specially for people with acid reflux. (Ho Tit Coffee Powder Factory – it has a 4.8 star rating from 48 Google reviews FYI. Special shout-out here as I strongly believe Singaporeans should support our local businesses!)

There's also a small coffee shop at the end: Sam Hee Coffee Shop and Seafood Zhi Char Beef Noodle.

Now that we've seen the estate: I visited every street in it so you should have gotten a good idea of the surroundings, how did you find it? I was charmed by it! Despite its location along busy Upper Paya Lebar Road, it's actually very quiet and serene inside!

Oh before I go, I need to mention that there are three places of worship (two temples) in the estate, all along the same stretch. They weren't in session when I visited but I may feel differently about the peacefulness of the areas if they were! 

ALSO READ: Touring Elliot Road: A freehold landed estate very close to Siglap MRT station

This article was first published in Stackedhomes.