Lease Buyback Scheme and Silver Housing Bonus

Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for National Development since the launch of the Lease Buyback Scheme and Silver Housing Bonus (a) what is the total number of flat owners who have successfully tapped into these schemes; and (b) what is the total number of successful applications as a percentage to total eligible flat owners for each of the schemes.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) was introduced in 2009. To date, 471 households have taken up the scheme. We recently enhanced the LBS and introduced the Silver Housing Bonus (SHB) to provide additional monetisation options for lower-income elderly households. The Enhanced LBS and SHB were implemented on 1 February 2013. We are now answering queries and providing financial counselling on the two schemes.