Written Answer by Ministry of National Development on whether more manpower and resources can be allocated to expedite enforcements of orders to remove items, especially flammable or hazardous ones, from the hoarders' homes and surroundings

Jul 26, 2021

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether more manpower and resources can be allocated to expedite enforcements of orders to remove items, especially flammable or hazardous ones, from the hoarders' homes and surroundings; (b) whether penalties can be increased due to the danger that such items pose; (c) whether authorised personnel can be empowered to enter their homes to remove fire hazards; and (d) whether those with hoarding issues can be ordered to attend counselling sessions with mental health professionals.

Answer: 

Hoarding behaviour is characterised by excessive acquisition and persistent difficulty in making decisions to discard possessions. This behaviour can lead to a variety of concerns, including dis-amenities to immediate neighbours. The Municipal Services Office (MSO) leads a multi-agency workgroup to coordinate hoarding cases. The workgroup includes HDB, NEA, NParks (AVS), MSF, PA, SCDF, SPF and AIC so that enforcement, social, community, health and medical interventions can all be considered in an effort to address the issue holistically and in a coordinated manner. 

The agencies have jointly developed a Hoarding Management Framework (HMF), which includes a set of standard operating procedures to guide ground officers in their day-to-day management of hoarding cases. When public feedback is received, cases are assessed and prioritised based on whether there is threat to public health and safety. For severe cases, regulatory agencies can already enter the home to make an assessment of the severity of the existing hoarding situation. For example, NEA for vector or mosquito issues, or SCDF if the materials hoarded comprise particularly flammable materials, such as petroleum or petroleum products. Likewise, SCDF works with the Town Councils and MCSTs to remove hoarding in the common areas, which increase fire safety risks by obstructing fire evacuation routes. 

While we recognise that compulsive hoarding is a behavioural problem, the majority of hoarders do not have treatable underlying mental illnesses such as obsessive compulsive disorder. There are thus no clinically proven medical treatments that could fully address hoarding behaviour and would apply to all hoarders. The interventions for each case will have to differ depending on the hoarder's underlying motivations and available support, such as from family members and community (e.g. neighbours, social service organisations). The process to fully resolve a hoarding issue through counselling can be long-drawn and is highly dependent on the hoarder’s willingness and ability to change their behaviour. Therefore, we will need strong support from the hoarder’s family and community. In many of the successful interventions, family members and neighbours have worked closely with agencies and grassroots leaders to encourage and assist the hoarders such that their behaviour does not recur. Premature mandated interventions may be not conducive to successful resolution as trust amongst the stakeholders may be eroded. MSO and the agencies involved will continue to review the need for more legislative powers, manpower and resources in tackling this issue.