A home for everyone: Maintaining the quality and value of your flat

For a small country like Singapore, housing can be a complex and challenging issue.

HDB flats are sold on a 99-year lease to serve the needs of owners and their children, while ensuring that land can be redeveloped and new flats which cater to the needs of future generations can be built on them.

99-year or shorter leases are not unique to Singapore, or to public housing. Cities like Hong Kong have residential properties sold on 50-year leases and Canberra has a 99-year leasehold system.

Since 1967, all sites for private residential land in Singapore have also been sold on leases no longer than 99 years.

What happens if I outlive the 99-year lease?

Understandably, some are concerned about outliving the 99-year lease.

The 99-year-lease is needed to enable us to recycle our land to build flats for future generations.

This ensures that the Government can continue to provide every generation, including your children, access to an affordable and quality home in Singapore.

For the minority who may outlive your lease, the Government will ensure that no one will be left without a roof over their heads.

As the number of shorter lease flats increases in the market, flat buyers and owners need to do their part, to plan ahead and make prudent housing choices. We encourage potential flat buyers to choose a flat with sufficient lease to cover you and your spouse till at least age 95. This would cover most of us for life and give us peace of mind in our golden years.

To support this, the Government announced updates to the rules on CPF usage and HDB housing loans in 2019, to provide more flexibility for Singaporeans to buy a home for life, while safeguarding their retirement adequacy. Previously, the total amount of CPF that can be used for property purchases and the HDB loan amount that can be taken depended solely on the remaining lease of the property. Under the new rules, the amount of CPF that can be used and HDB loan amount would depend on the extent the remaining lease of the property can cover the youngest buyer until at least the age of 95.

Helping older flats maintain good condition and meet their residents’ evolving needs

To keep our neighbourhoods thriving, our physical environment must keep pace. The Government continually upgrades our older flats and estates so that you can continue to enjoy a quality home and living environment.

Every HDB flat will be upgraded twice during its lease:

1. Once, when the flat is about 30 years old through the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) , and

2. A second time, when the flat is about 60 to 70 years old, through the second round of upgrade.

In the longer term, the Government will also progressively redevelop older flats and precincts through the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS), as part of a bigger strategy to comprehensively plan for the redevelopment of our public housing, so that they continue to remain vibrant and cater to the needs of the future generations.

VERS is a voluntary scheme that will allow home owners in selected precincts, with flats about 70 years, to vote and decide if they want the Government to take back their flats earlier for redevelopment. If home owners in selected precincts vote in support of VERS, the Government will buy back all the flats and redevelop the precinct. Otherwise, they can continue to live in their flats until the leases run out. We are working through the detailed mechanics, processes, and package for VERS to support Singaporeans in the move.

Helping you to unlock the value of your flat

You have various options to unlock the value of your flat.

1. Rent out

• Rent out your flat or spare bedrooms.

• You'll receive rental income which you can use for your retirement.

2. Silver Housing Bonus

• Sell your current flat and buy a 3-room or smaller flat.

• Receive the Silver Housing Bonus of up to $30,000 when you top up the proceeds you get from the housing transactions into your CPF Retirement Account, and join CPF LIFE.

3. Lease Buyback Scheme

• Sell part of your remaining lease back to HDB and get a cash bonus of up to $30,000.

• Top up part of your proceeds into your CPF Retirement Account to benefit from a monthly income of about $1,000 for life.

• You can keep the remaining proceeds in cash.