HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD FLATS (Compensation upon expiry of lease)

Mr Cheo Chai Chen asked the Acting Minister for National Development whether lessees of Housing and Development Board flats will be compensated for the return of flats upon the expiry of their 99-year lease.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Mr Speaker, Sir, HDB flats are sold on 99-year leases, so as to allow the sites to be re-developed in the future to meet the prevailing needs, and to allow new designs and technology to be implemented. The lease period is long enough to see through at least the first two generations of families occupying the flats. In fact, the remaining lease periods of the oldest HDB flats are still about 71 years.

Those who buy their flats from others should know the expiry date of the flats' leases; the price they pay for the lease takes into account the remaining lease period. Under the lease contract, HDB would not need to pay lessees any compensation when their leases expire.