More elderly owners of housing board flats can now sell the tail-end lease of their flat to the government for proceeds and continue to remain in their homes and age in place for the lease retained, revealed the HDB.
In September 2014, the government announced four enhancements to the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) and these changes take effect from today.
The scheme was extended to 4-room flats, effectively covering 75 percent of elderly households, up from the previous 35 percent.
The monthly income ceiling to be eligible for the scheme was also raised from $3,000 to $10,000.
For households with two or more owners, the top up requirement has been lowered so each owner will only have to top up their CPF retirement account to the current basic age-adjusted retirement sum, instead of the current full retirement sum.
Elderly households can also choose the length of lease to be retained, from 15 to 35 years (in five-year increments), provided the lease covers the youngest owner till the age of 95.
For more information on the LBS, the public can call the HDB Branch Service Line at 1800-225-5432 between 8am and 5pm from Mondays to Fridays.
Image source: HDB
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
