\nElderly owners of large Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats can look forward to monetising their flat by selling part of their remaining lease to the government.
\n\u00a0This comes as the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) will now be extended to all HDB flats, including five-room and bigger units, to enable more Singaporeans to benefit from the scheme, announced National Development Minister Lawrence Wong in a blogpost on Monday (20 August).
\n\u00a0\u201cThe LBS is a good scheme but it only applies to those living in four-room or smaller HDB flats. The original thinking was that it would make more sense for those living in bigger flats to right-size,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cBut there are seniors who prefer to age in place. Some also have grandchildren who come over to visit regularly, and would like a bigger space for the extended family.\u201d<\/p>\n
ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim noted that the government heeded industry and public feedback to extend the scheme to all flat types.
Elderly owners of large Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats can look forward to monetising...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-p4J","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":106879,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/over-20-households-residing-in-bigger-flats-sold-part-of-lease-to-hdb-in-q1-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":96393,"position":0},"title":"Over 20 Households Residing In Bigger Flats Sold Part Of Lease To HDB In Q1 2019","date":"May 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\r From 1 January to 31 March, HDB received over 200 LBS applications from owners of such larger units after the scheme was extended to them at the start of this year. The Housing and Development Board (HDB) revealed that over 20 households living in five-room and bigger flats have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":76088,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/2500-households-took-up-hdbs-lease-buyback-scheme\/","url_meta":{"origin":96393,"position":1},"title":"2,500 households took up HDB\u2019s Lease Buyback Scheme","date":"January 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\r About 2,500 families have successfully applied for the Housing and Development Board\u2019s Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) since it was launched in March 2009, according to a written parliamentary reply from the Ministry of National Development on Monday (8 January). It stated this in response to a question from Gan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97608,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/seniors-have-options-to-unlock-value-of-hdb-flats\/","url_meta":{"origin":96393,"position":2},"title":"Seniors have options to unlock value of HDB flats","date":"September 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Seniors may choose to rent our a spare bedroom or sell part of their lease back to HDB. HDB flats provide a nest egg to seniors for their retirement needs, and the authorities have introduced many schemes and programmes to monetise such properties by then, according to National Development\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":114728,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/hdb-to-scrap-re-offer-of-balance-flats-exercise\/","url_meta":{"origin":96393,"position":3},"title":"HDB to scrap Re-Offer of Balance Flats exercise","date":"March 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The change is part of the various measures unveiled by Wong to make housing more accessible as well as to better support Singaporeans\u2019 diverse housing needs. Homebuyers can look forward to faster access to public housing as the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will do away with the Re-Offer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":101430,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/hdb-to-provide-more-help-to-seniors-looking-to-unlock-flats-value\/","url_meta":{"origin":96393,"position":4},"title":"HDB to provide more help to seniors looking to unlock flat\u2019s value","date":"November 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\r More personalised information could soon be provided to help seniors make better retirement decisions, such as the estimated proceeds from the sale of their flats. Unlocking the value of one\u2019s HDB flat can prove to be a complex task, wrote National Development Minister Lawrence Wong in a blog post.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":111443,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/seniors-receive-average-lbs-proceeds-of-177000\/","url_meta":{"origin":96393,"position":5},"title":"Seniors receive average LBS proceeds of $177,000","date":"October 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The Ministry of National Development noted that most seniors \u2013 after taking up the Lease Buyback Scheme \u2013 have enough CPF RA savings \u201cto benefit from a lifelong income stream of about $1,000 per month on a household basis under CPF LIFE\u201d. With the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) enhanced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96393"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cAs public housing is for all, the choices available to monetise one\u2019s flat should and rightfully has now been made available to all,\u201d he said.
\nLim believes the expanded scheme will allow cash-strapped owners of bigger flats to raise the funds required for urgent needs without selling their homes.
\nIn view of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong National Day Rally announcement to systematically upgrade as well as progressively renew older HDB towns, Wong revealed that his ministry will also be making several short-term moves aimed at helping seniors unlock the value of their HDB flats for retirement.
\n\u201cWe are looking at ways to improve the liquidity of the resale market for older flats,\u201d he said.
\nMore: Home buyers looking for HDB flats may like to visit our\u00a0Listings
\n\u201cCurrently, CPF can be used for the purchase of older HDB flats but subject to certain restrictions. These rules are meant to ensure that buyers purchase a home for life, without compromising their retirement savings.\u201d
\nWith this, his ministry is working with CPFB to review and update the rules to provide buyers of shorter-lease flats more flexibility while safeguarding their retirement adequacy.
\n\u201cThis is a very welcome move that is targeted at addressing the growing concern amongst HDB flat owners about their depleting leases and the difficulty of selling these flats due to the limitations placed by CPF on prospective buyers for the usage of CPF funds,\u201d said Lim.
\nCoupled with HIP 1, HIP II and VERS announced by PM Lee, this is likely to \u201cprovide a much needed positive nudge to the otherwise lukewarm HDB resale market that was in recent months seem to be heading nowhere due to uncertainties that have not been addressed,\u201d he added.
\nMore: Can you afford an HDB flat? Check your\u00a0affordability\u00a0now.\u00a0
\nEugenia Rosaline Shlaen edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email eugenia@propertyguru.com.sg
\n
\nSource : proppertyguru.com.sg\/Property Market
\nRead more…Lease buyback scheme to be extended to all HDB flats<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"