Residents Corner

Opportunity

Over 3 million Singaporeans live in HDB flats. Town councils try to inform residents about estate works by posting physical notices in advance, but the system has gaps.

Residents miss notices. Town councils aim to post notices 2 weeks in advance, but 40% of surveyed residents (12 out of 29) still found out too late - on the day works started, after they began, or only when they heard the noise. Residents entering via carpark levels or staircases don't see lobby notices. One resident dealing with chute fogging: "Cockroaches everywhere on the ground floor. no heads up for me to tape my chute up."

Town councils can't reliably reach residents. In one case, a town council created a Telegram channel and promoted it through events, newsletters, and emails - only 5% households signed up. Notices through social channels cast a wide net, and are less targeted. Despite their effort to reach residents where they are, they still get complaints claiming they didn't know.

Velocity

We built a digital platform that lets town councils post estate notices once and track aggregated stats on resident reach - something impossible with paper notices alone. The primary solution is a town council dashboard where staff can select affected blocks, set event types and timing, then publish notices digitally. They can see how many residents viewed each notice and update information instantly when schedules change.

Admin Events Dashboard

Event Details w/ Metrics

Update Published Event

To validate this approach, we also built a resident app where people enter their block's postal code to see and get notified of relevant upcoming works. This prototype helps us test whether digitising town council notices actually reaches more residents and reduces the need for door-to-door updates. The resident-facing component may not be part of the final solution - we're exploring integration with existing apps residents already use instead of building a new one.

Traction

We tested the prototype with town council staff. They saw immediate value in the digital posting system and appreciated the possibility of getting view counts - visibility that's not possible with paper notices alone.

Currently, when urgent schedule changes happen, door-to-door updates take roughly 30 mins per block (depending on block size). Our digital platform could significantly reduce most of these visits by letting town councils update residents instantly.

Next steps include a full pilot with real town council notices to validate whether digitising their posting process actually improves resident reach and reduces operational burden.

Let's Connect

Are you an HDB resident? Try Residents Corner here

Are you a Town Council interested in a pilot?
Get in touch at residentscorner@hack2026.gov.sg