Lease Buyback Scheme

Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) is a monetisation option introduced by Singapore. It was announced by Singapore’s Minister for National Development, Mah Bow Tan, in Parliament on 6 Feb 2009, and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has started accepting applications for LBS from 1 Mar 2009.[1] The scheme underwent a review, following Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Manpower, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam announcement on 17 Feb 2012.[2] The enhanced LBS was announced on 27 December 2012, under which, eligible elderly households will receive a $20,000 LBS bonus when they sell the tail-end lease of their 4-room or smaller flats to HDB [3] and use their net proceeds to top up their CPF Retirement Account (RAs) to the specified top-up requirements. Further revisions to the scheme were announced on 3 Sep 2014, and took effect from 1 April 2015.[4]

Details
Flat Owner's Age(Sole Owner) To Top Up till RA has:
≤69Prevailing MS (currently $155,000)
70 - 79Prevailing MS - $10,000 (currently $145,000)
≥80Prevailing MS - $20,000 (currently $135,000)

This is in addition to the value of the housing equity unlocked from the shorter lease. [5]

The household will receive the full bonus so long as the total top-up to their RAs is $60,000 or more. A maximum of $100,000 of the excess proceeds can be withdrawn in cash, after topping up the RAs to the specified requirements. Any amount in excess of $100,000 will be used to help the person with the lower RA balance meet the prevailing Minimum Sum. They will be able to use their full RA savings to buy a CPF LIFE plan if they have at least $40,000 (if below age 65) or $60,000 (if aged 65 to 79) in their RA after the top-up. This will enable the elderly couple to have a monthly stream of income for life.

Elderly households will have the flexibility to choose the length of lease to retain, based on their age and preferences. A household must have at least 20 years of lease to sell to HDB to be eligible for the LBS. [6] The lease options available are shown below:

Options for Lease Retained[6]
Age of Youngest Owner Minimum Lease Other Lease Options
CPF Draw-Down Age (now 63) to 69 30 35
70 to 74 25 30, 35
75 to 79 20 25, 30, 35
80 or older 15 20, 25, 30, 35

Eligibility

LBS is available to Singapore citizens owning four-room or smaller HDB flats. They must also meet the following criteria:

  • Age of youngest owner is 64 years or older;
  • At least one owner is a Singapore Citizen;
  • Household income of S$10,000 or less;
  • No concurrent ownership of second property;
  • All owners have been living in the flat for at least 5 years.
  • Have at least 20 years of lease to sell for proceeds.
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References
  1. "HDB to accept applications for Lease Buyback Scheme from Mar 1". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  2. "Budget Speech 2012" (PDF). Ministry of Finance. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 28, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  3. "Lease Buyback Scheme | HDB InfoWEB". www.hdb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
  4. "Revisions to the Enhanced Lease Buyback Scheme". HDB. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  5. "Silver Housing Bonus and Lease Buyback Scheme made more Attractive for Elderly". HDB. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  6. "HDB InfoWEB: Enhanced Lease Buyback Scheme To Benefit More Elderly And Offer Greater Flexibility". www20.hdb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
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