Eligibility Conditions for Divorcees with Shared Care of Children to Purchase Subsidised HDB Flats

8 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for National Development what are the eligibility conditions for divorcees with shared care and control of their children to purchase a subsidised HDB flat.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Ms Sun Xueling) (for the Minister for National Development): Divorcees with children under their legal custody, care and control may form a family nucleus, by listing their children as essential occupiers in their flat application. Those awarded shared care and control of their children share the right to list the children in their flat application. This is rare, as care and control is usually awarded to one parent.

As any individual can only be listed in one HDB flat application, we require parents with shared care and control to seek their ex-spouse's agreement before listing the child in a flat application. This ensures fairness to both parties, as HDB is not in a position to determine which parent should exercise the right to list the child. Nonetheless, those who cannot reach an agreement with their ex-spouse may approach HDB to discuss their options.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the reply. I have two clarifications. I understand that the shared care and control is actually a Court ruling so that the children following a divorce will be able to live with both parties. But then, our housing policies now penalise them for having this shared care and control, instead of sole care and control. I am wondering if MND can work with the Courts so that we can align our policies so that the judgment that is obtained can actually be enforced and be feasible.

The second clarification is, HDB had initially said that they have removed the time bar as they realised that it caused friction between both parties because they cannot decide on who will get the subsidised housing. They also said they had removed the time bar in the best interest of the children involved in the divorce. But now that we are back to the ex-spousal consent on who can list the children as occupiers, are we not back to square one again? And would the Senior Parliamentary Secretary agree that this would again lead to friction between both parties, because they now have to again decide on who will get the subsidised housing?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his questions. Time bar aside, divorced couples with shared care and control of their child, as I have mentioned, are still required to obtain their ex-spouse's written agreement before they apply for a flat. This is because both parents have equal rights to buy a flat with their child and HDB is not in a position to determine which parent should exercise the right. This is also to be consistent and fair to all HDB flat owners and households, where each person can only be listed in one HDB flat. But for those who face challenges in reaching an agreement, HDB will exercise flexibility, if they face financial difficulties or lack family support. We will ensure that parents with shared care and control have options to provide housing for themselves and their children.

So, we recognise that each of the family's circumstances are different and it is best to take an approach where flexibility can be exercised to meet the specific circumstances and needs.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong): Speaker, I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for her clarification. I would just like to take this opportunity to echo Mr Louis Ng's concerns on this matter. I am a practising divorce lawyer and this is a matter I see fairly commonly. Even if the order is not a shared order, even if it is share and control to one parent, there is always this disagreement and issues with regard to the housing arrangements because only one party can list and use the children's name.

I would just want to highlight and stress the difficulties that parties have. This becomes an issue of contention because they have difficulties arranging for their housing later, especially in shared care and control arrangements. Parties have difficulties resolving it in a divorce. So, it does not help in the resolution of the divorce, if we do not figure out how we can lay out plans that can help parties moving forward.

There is already this housing guidance arrangement that is given to parties at divorce. They have to fill it up and sign it. From my experience and from anecdotal evidence given by clients who have gone through the process, depending on the officer, the advice given may not necessarily be as thorough and helpful. So, I believe that in circumstances where there is a divorce, it would be helpful if parties are given a very clear outcome, a very clear option that is available to them, especially at that stage before they actually go through the whole divorce process so that they can see how much loan they can take out, how much monies they have, what are their options. They have all these in broad terms but it does not really help because they just give rough figures or, sometimes, to the extent that they would not even have an indication of the housing loan eligibility because they do not have the divorce order yet. I think there is hesitance in fixing a certain amount before they actually know the full picture. To be fair to the parties, you really need to guide them along.

So, one, I would suggest that you review the process in respect of housing guidance to help divorced parties; and, two, I would just echo Mr Louis Ng's point that we may need to review this position about making it an exception because the policy itself does not gel with the principle of a shared care and control arrangement. Because the parties are actually ordered to be able to allow the children to live with them. So, the idea is that, half the time, they are living with the father and half the time they are living with the mother. If they do not have proper housing —

Mr Speaker: Can the Member keep the question more concise, please?

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: If they do not have proper housing, they will face some difficulties.

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for her very comprehensive sharing and I note that she has worked with parties before, so, she thoroughly understands the situation. We understand the concern that mutual agreement might be difficult and, as I have mentioned, we will exercise flexibility for those who face financial hardship or lack family support. We will take a needs-based approach and take each family's circumstance into account. We will ensure that parents with shared care and control have options to provide housing for themselves and their children.

On housing counselling for divorcing parties, I will take her feedback back to make sure that the officers who interact with the divorcing parties are understanding, take all their sharing into consideration and, hopefully, that can help to make the process less taxing for all parties. I would just like to add that in situations where the settlement of the matrimonial flat and issues of custody and care and control have already been addressed by an interim judgment, for instance, HDB is prepared to consider requests to submit flat applications depending on the facts of the particular case. So, any parties undergoing a divorce may seek advice from HDB on their housing options.

Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Mr Speaker, without belabouring the point, I add my support to the hon Member Mr Louis Ng's suggestions. Does the Ministry work together with the Family Courts in terms of coming to a mutual set of guidelines? Because, in recent months, there have been more cases of shared care and control that I have seen and we also have cases that we have come across with limited tenure shared care and control. For example, a resident of mine was given shared care and control of the children with her spouse for only 10 months and she was told by the Courts that she needs to resolve her housing situation within these 10 months. This was quite distinct from all the other judgments, in terms of divorce cases that I have seen in the last decade or so.

So, does the Ministry work closely with the Family Courts advising and coming up with these guidelines, so that we do not have situations where the couple and the children end up suffering?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his supplementary question. I would first like to add that, in terms of numbers, as of 2016, shared care and control constitute 4% of all divorce care and control Orders. So, the numbers speak for themselves.

As to his point about whether or not we work closely with Family Courts, I think we have to make decisions independently, somewhat. We cannot be influencing the Court's decisions.

But I take his point that we should closely monitor the number of cases where parties are awarded shared care and control and ensure that, when they come to HDB, there are housing options for them on a needs basis.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: One last clarification or suggestion. Can I suggest that, at least, we waive this ex-spousal consent for children to be listed as occupiers, if the other party has moved on? Following the divorce, they now own a private property or they own a subsidised housing, which means that they have re-married. Can the ex-spousal consent then be waived for the other party?

I know of cases where both refused to sign and both ended up renting homes, because that is the whole reason why they divorced in the first place, they could not agree on things. So, can we at least waive ex-spousal consent for these cases?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his feedback. As I have said, we will look at each case on a case-by-case basis. In the specific case that he has mentioned, if the party does not own the property after the divorce comes to HDB and satisfies the needs-based approach that we mentioned, then we will work with him to ensure that he has housing options.