HDB Flats with Shorter Leases

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development whether HDB will consider offering new HDB flats with shorter leases such as 50 years or 70 years so that the sale price of new HDB flats can be reduced and made even more affordable and attractive for Singaporeans.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: We do offer new HDB flats with shorter leases where it will benefit the prospective buyers. For example, Studio Apartments are sold with 30-year leases to senior citizens as their retirement homes.

The vast majority of new HDB flat buyers are young married couples. Shorter leases may not be suitable for their life-cycle needs. Many will need their first HDB flats to help them upgrade to larger homes or private properties when their families grow. And when they retire, if their first HDB flats were of a shorter lease, their prospect of using them to buy into Studio Apartments as retirement homes with sufficient cash proceeds, will be limited.

New HDB flats with 99-year leases can still be affordable for our young first-timer households. And our approach to achieve this is to stabilise the prices of new flats, as we have done since May last year. With Government housing grants, their monthly mortgage instalments can be funded through their CPF contributions, often with little cash outlay.

There is a wide range of housing options. With prudence and the right level of expectation, almost all Singaporeans can afford their homes.

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