'Very happy': Former rough sleeper among 400 singles taking up rooms at new public rental housing site

About 400 singles have taken up tenancy at a new public rental housing site, where low-income singles can live in their own rooms and have access to shared facilities such as toilets and kitchens.

Announcing this on March 20, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said that the response to this new rental housing type has been encouraging so far.

Located at the former Anderson Junior College hostel in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, the Single Room Shared Facilities (SRSF) comprises two 11-storey blocks that can accommodate a total of 480 tenants.

Around 83 per cent of the single rooms have been rented out, just over a year after the Housing Board launched the pilot initiative.

Rolled out at the end of 2023, the SRSF aims to give low-income tenants, who are single, greater privacy while providing a community-type living environment through the sharing of common facilities.

Tenants have their own bedroom with basic furnishings such as a bed frame, wardrobe, table, wall shelves and a small fridge. They also have access to shared facilities including toilets, kitchens, laundry and activity rooms.  

HDB appointed social services agency New Hope Community Services (NHCS) to operate the site, manage tenancy matters and provide social support to tenants. 

Sharing the figures in a Facebook post, Lee said that the public rental scheme is meant to complement another public rental option for low-income singles known as the Joint Singles Scheme Operator-Run (JSS-OR) flats.

Under the JSS-OR scheme, singles can apply to share a semi-partitioned rental flat, without first having to find a flatmate. They will be assigned flatmates by the operator, who will take into consideration each person's profile, preferences and living habits.

Introduced as a pilot in December 2021, the flats come with general household furnishings and appliances so that tenants can move in easily.

Lee noted that the JSS-OR trial has been popular, with tenants giving positive feedback.

Hence, the trial was expanded in September 2023 from three to six sites, which are located in Bedok, Buangkok, Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Bidadari, and Sengkang. They are currently operating at near full occupancy of up to 1,000 tenants in total.

Lee said these rental housing options are part of the Government's broader efforts to help low-income households, adding that close to 5,000 more new public rental flats will be built across the island by 2030.

Tan Yong Hock moved into his rental room under the SRSF scheme in August 2024. The 42-year-old was a rough sleeper for more than a year from 2022 to March 2023.

He then stayed at NHCS' transitional shelter in Spooner Road, which offers temporary accommodation for homeless people and former convicts. He was there for a year before moving into his rental room under the scheme.

Tan said he became a rough sleeper after he fell into bad company. His family turned him away in 2022, and he had no choice but to sleep in public areas such as bus stops and void decks.

Sleeping outside was extremely tough, Tan recounted, as his personal belongings — including his bicycle, phone and wallet — kept getting stolen while he was asleep.

During the day, he worked odd jobs, while his nights were spent worrying about how to keep his valuables protected.

He lived off leftovers at hawker centres and waited till midnight every day when nobody else was around to shower in the open at wet markets.

"It was so dirty at the market, and I still showered... I was in such a pathetic state," he said in Mandarin.

After more than a year of being homeless, he decided to seek help from social services when a pastor at a church he frequents advised him to. That was how he ended up at the transitional shelter.

Now a laundry services worker, Tan said he is "very happy" to have a roof over his head and a room to call his own for around $150 each month.

He said it is the first time he has his own space, adding that he feels "safe" as he can now live with "peace of mind", without worrying about his belongings.

Tan hopes to save enough money for a two-room flexi flat in five to 10 years' time.

Martina Ambrose, centre head of the SRSF and a senior social worker with NHCS, said that operating the site as a social services agency allows her colleagues to connect people with the right resources, based on what they already know about the social services landscape.

She noted that there are also social workers at the SRSF to provide emotional support for tenants and help them adapt to communal living facilities.

Additionally, Ambrose said that NHCS also organises learning programmes like digital literacy classes and community events to help instil a sense of community among tenants.

Lee said that about 8,300 public rental households progressed to homeownership with the help of HDB schemes and grants from 2015 to 2024.

More than 700 public rental households progressed to homeownership in 2024 alone, said Minister of State for National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim.

He added that about three in four bought a flat from HDB, while the rest purchased a resale flat.

Around one in five had booked a flat under the Tenants' Priority Scheme, which allocates up to 10 per cent of two-room flexi and three-room Build-To-Order or Sale of Balance flats to eligible families in public rental flats, Prof Faishal said in a Facebook post on March 20.

He added that another 600 public rental households have booked a new flat and are awaiting the completion of their homes.

Lee said: "We have also adopted a whole-of-society approach to uplift our public rental tenants by linking them up with community partners and social services agencies... so that their needs are addressed in a more holistic and coordinated manner.

"We will continue to press on with our efforts and care for those who are more vulnerable among us."

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.