Eligible home owners urged to seriously consider the scheme
By
Jessica Cheam
Retiree Teng Kiat Hwa may opt for a lease buy-back on his three-room flat as medical bills have eroded his savings. -- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI
STARTING from March 1, elderly folk can apply to the Housing Board to unlock the value of their homes for cash - while continuing to live in the flats.
Full details of the long-awaited 'lease buy-back scheme' were unveiled by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan in Parliament yesterday.
Unlocking the value of flat: How it works
HERE is an example of how the scheme will work. Take a three-room flat with 70 years left on the lease, with a market value of $236,000.
1 Flat owner sells the Housing Board 40 years of the lease, and continues to live in the flat under the remaining 30-year lease.
The initiative, designed to allow the elderly to obtain cash for living expenses by drawing value from their homes, was first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the 2007 National Day Rally.
Mr Mah yesterday strongly urged eligible home owners - those 62 and above - to sign on: 'It is a good and generous scheme and I would like to urge MPs...to explain this scheme to their residents.'
He also stressed that HDB flats were not for 'speculation, or quick profit'. The lease buy-back scheme reflects this point by recognising that home owners will be in a position to unlock the value of flats when they grow old, he added.
Read the full story in today's edition of The Straits Times
