This post was originally published as a letter in TODAY newspaper. 

The recent letter ‘Clarify HDB assistance scheme for second-time applicants’ [4 March 2017] highlights the difficulties that divorced or widowed parents face when applying for HDB housing.

The author suggested that the Assistance Scheme for Second-Timers (Divorced/Widowed Parents) (ASSIST) could be under-subscribed. As of end 2015, there were 282 applications – a low figure considering the divorce rate (7,522 in 2015).

The HDB website states that those who have disposed of a flat or a private property after divorce or demise of the spouse do not qualify. Yet divorced couples are often ordered by the court to sell their matrimonial flats, and thus typically fall foul of this criterion on its face. This is a strange outcome when the stated purpose of ASSIST is to help divorced and widowed parents with minor children.

If the intention is to exclude those who hold on to a matrimonial flat for many years after divorce, but not to disqualify those who sell promptly following a court order, HDB should make this explicit.  Otherwise, the publicly available criteria are confusing and will needlessly deter applicants.

This points to a wider difficulty with information about housing rules.  Our research into the barriers faced by single parents in accessing housing showed that many found HDB rules and policies complicated and hard to understand.

The HDB website did not always answer their questions. Some reported that HDB officers did not always offer explanations for why applications failed or what alternatives they could try. Even if relevant schemes are in place, or waivers are available for some rules, these options are not always made known to applicants.

For example, in the last three years, over 1,900 applications have been made to waive the income ceiling for rental housing, of which 273 were successful. Yet our research found individuals who, in the face of this ceiling, had been told by HDB to stop work, took lower-paying jobs, or simply scrambled with great difficulty to leave their rental flats instead of seeking a temporary waiver and extension.

Since HDB officers are the most closely acquainted with the rules and schemes, they are the best placed to proactively explain the options available to applicants, who are already facing stress from circumstances such as divorce or death of a spouse.

Currently, because of the opacity in the system, single parents rely heavily on help from their MPs. This approach is arbitrary, time-consuming and dependent on the applicant’s individual ability to challenge the system and seek the ‘right’ people for help.

To better ensure that single parent families receive the support they need, we recommend that the government establish a central coordinating unit catering to families transitioning to single-parent households. Such a unit should coordinate policies and services that would meet their needs, and reduce current reliance on this arbitrary approach.