SINGAPORE — Christmas is a season of giving and offering help to those who might need a helping hand to ease their burdens, especially with their daily necessity and other costs of living that they face in Singapore.
For Red Dot United (RDU), during their recent house visits in the Tanjong Pagar GRC, they encountered a young couple with a baby who had a strong will to be self-reliant to have a home of their own despite falling into tough times on several occasions.
After numerous attempts at an HDB rental flat, they were finally successful. But they did not have the money to collect the keys to their new home. They had tried approaching other organisations for assistance, but they were met with a dead end.
“…after several appeals, they were finally able to secure a HDB flat under the Public Rental Scheme. That’s good news because they were staying in their parent’s home before and it seemed too overcrowded for the healthy development of the child. But they almost did not make it,” posted RDU’s secretary-general Ravi Philemon on his Facebook page on 23 Dec.
“That’s because they did not have the almost $250 needed as fees to collect the keys to their flat. As much as they tried, the Social Service Office and their Family Service Centre were not able to help them. Apparently there are no schemes to provide one-time financial assistance for families in need.”
That is when RDU decided to step in and put joy into the family’s situation during this Christmas period.
“I am happy that we were able to step-in and help this tenacious young family to secure a flat of their own. We dug into RDU’s Welfare Fund and gave them the funds they needed. This is the season for giving anyway,” shared Ravi.
“The young couple’s home is still unfurnished. They have no chairs, no fridge, no beds for the baby… But still the home’s warm.”
According to information available on HDB’s website, eligibility for the public rental scheme under the Family Scheme, ComLink Rental Scheme, or the Joint Singles Scheme, the income guidelines remain the same.
It is stated on the HDB page that the applicant’s income will be used to assess the housing budget and options, and they do not reject or accept applicants based purely on income. Applications are reviewed holistically, taking into account household size and individual circumstances. Most applicants have a household income below $1,500, and if any applicant is above $1,500, they can still submit an application and HDB will evaluate their eligibility accordingly.
Successful applicants will then be required to pay a one-month deposit when they collect the keys to their rental flat. The rent to their rental flat varies according to their monthly household income, the type of flat (one-room or two-room), and whether they are a first-time or second-time applicant.
Those with a household income of $800 or less would pay between $26 to $33 monthly for a one-room as a first-time applicant, while a second-timer would pay between $90 to $123 per month.
First-time applicants earning between $801 and $1,500 would be paying monthly rentals of $123-$165 for a two-room rental flat, while second-time applicants will pay between $205-$275 per month.
