Letter on the housing crisis

Dear Editor,

Suppose a woman who is working has to resign from her job for the caring and upbringing of her very young child, she cannot do it because if she resigns from the job, her family cannot afford to continue paying the monthly rent and the family shall go back to the miserable conditions that they were suffering in for ages, or even worse than that.

Here I am talking about the families who are being provided with the basic housing under an affordable housing scheme by Hulhumale’ Development Corporation (HDC). The reason why people have accepted these pigeon-hole like housing is because they had no place to live. This housing is called Row Houses by HDC.

We hear from the NSPA that families who face such difficulties shall apply for a subsidy but there is no such mechanism. For example, if one applies for a subsidy due to the above reason, this working woman must resign from her job first and then apply for a subsidy which is really a very big risk for them, and may be forced to migrate to a neighboring country where their income is enough to live and support the family.