Hope for resettled homeless through Project 4650

The problem of families found living in public parks and beaches peaked in 2009, at the height of the Asian financial crisis. A project to get the East Coast Park homeless resettled has garnered positive results. Project 4650, started in 2010, has helped about 230 families so far.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/hope-for-resettled/871112.html

What is the percentage of the 230 families to the total number of homeless families?

Since “On a daily basis we usually identify about 5 to 10 at that time and what we saw were families with very young children and it was a concern to us” – does it mean that the number in just a year may be about 2,738 families (7.5 a day times 365 days)?

With regard to “Many sold their flats and when they sold their flats they have difficulty looking for alternative flats for various reasons. (For instance they) can’t afford another loan because their income wasn’t there…some families ended up in parks, void deck spaces.” – how many and what percentage were homeless because of policies like those who have sold their flats have to wait 30 months before they can apply and join the queue for HDB rental flats, ineligibility for HDB concessionary loans due to inability to meet the second time loan criteria of all CPF plus interest from the previous sale and 50 per cent of cash profits must be used for the second flat or insufficient income to qualify for the Housing Loan Eligibility (HLE) letter, etc.?

In respect of “So began Project 4650 – named after the two blocks these families are now housed in” – what is the capacity of these 2 blocks (how many units and families)?

Where else are the homeless (single males, single females, families) housed in Singapore? What is the total number of homeless in the homeless shelters and in the interim housing scheme?

What is the eviction rate for inability to pay rent in the interim housing scheme? What is the eviction rate in the homeless shelters as we understand that there is generally a maximum tenure of about a year?

As to “Some of them, for example, come to us and they have arrears in the children’s school fees.

“We say, ‘come, we work with you, we’ll find sources to support you and manage some of these arrears for you” – we find this rather puzzling as wouldn’t families with children who are homeless already receiving financial assistance as well as school fees’ assistance already under ComCare and the Ministry of Education’s financial assistance scheme, etc.?

According to Minister of State for Manpower and National Development as well as Deputy Prime Minister, it is possible for first-time applicants who earn $1,000 in combined monthly income to purchase a HDB flat. Within the financial year of 2012, more than $102 million was disbursed to assist needy Singaporeans and their families. As part of the caring community, MSF works closely with community partners to provide help to the needy, and ensure that those who need help know where to find it.

http://app.msf.gov.sg/Portals/0/Summary/publication/CSSD/ComCare%20Annual%20Report%202012%20(1).pdf

With a loan from HDB, the minister demonstrated the repayment as follows:

Taking a 30-year loan: $161 per month
Taking a 25-year loan: $182 per month
Taking a 20-year loan: $214 per month

The Azezy family moved in in 2011. However, the family pays about $300 a month in rent and conservancy charges under the Interim Rental Housing Scheme for a room in a 3-room flat. It’s a tight space for the family of seven, but a far cry from their days living out of a van in Punggol Park.

Can we have a breakdown of families in the interim housing scheme who are being charged rental of less than $1,300, $1,000, $750, $500 and $300 (like the Azezy family)

In this connection, Leong Sze Hian in his volunteer financial counselling has come across families who were evicted from the interim housing scheme when they could not pay their rental of about $1,300.

Is Project 4650 overcharging the already poor and homeless Singaporeans?

Who said there’s no homeless in Singapore or are they to be called sleepers instead of homeless?

Han Hui Hui and Leong Sze Hian

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