Making Singapore a home for all ages was one of the topics in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech yesterday.
This includes providing assurance in retirement for seniors. He said that, “the CPF scheme and homeownership are the twin pillars of our retirement adequacy.”
Responding to feedback from seniors living in larger flats who want to grow old in the comfort of their own homes, PM Lee announced the Lease Buyback Scheme will be extended to four-room HDB flats. This will cover more than half of all flat owners in Singapore and more details will be released soon.
He said the CPF scheme and homeownership go hand-in-hand to provide for Singaporeans’ retirement. He added the current Minimum Sum (MS) of $155,000 is reasonable, plus citizens who own a house will only need to set aside half the MS, currently S$77,500.
Seniors also have several ways to unlock the savings in their flats through renting out rooms, renting out their whole flats after moving in with their children, or taking up the Silver Housing Bonus to buy a new flat of the right size.
However, PM Lee advised seniors to think carefully before selling their flats: “I have seen so many sad cases; seniors cashed out unwisely, cheated of all their money, sometimes even turfed out by their children. …So it’s better you keep your property, – it is yours and you can fall back on it for your old age, just in case anything happens.”
He added many Singaporeans have significant savings in their flats. The typical retiree household living in a three-room flat has $300,000 savings in his flat, while a similar household in a four-room flat has about $400,000 worth of savings.
“It’s a valuable little pot of gold to draw on if they need to,” PM Lee said.
Image source: Screenshot from National Day Rally
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
Related Stories:
Govt releases land parcels in Sembawang and Upper Thomson
Slight rise in new private home sales
92 households took up the Silver Housing Bonus scheme
