Bidders for HDB shops must commit to tendered rent over 6 years instead of 3

SINGAPORE – Successful bidders for HDB shops will from Jan 10 have to commit to their tendered rent over two tenancy terms – a total of six years – instead of one three-year term, in a move to encourage prudent bidding.

The measure announced by the Housing Board on Jan 10 applies to those who successfully bid for any HDB shops, including coffee shops and medical facilities.

This comes on the back of concerns over rising rents, after a

general practitioner’s clinic in Tampines was rented out at $52,188 a month

in 2025 when a healthcare services firm placed the record-high bid with HDB.

Previously, when a three-year tenancy was due for renewal, the rent for the next tenancy period would be assessed by professional valuers appointed by HDB.

Under the new measure, this assessment will be carried out after the second term. Subsequently, the assessment will be done after each three-year term.

Mr Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at property portal Mogul.sg, said that while the changes could encourage most tenderers to bid sensibly, some may still overbid for HDB shops in popular areas.

He noted that the record-high rent was for a unit in a new neighbourhood in Tampines West, where there were five Build-To-Order projects comprising 5,000 households.

Businesses may continue to place high bids to get the first-mover advantage for such areas, he said, pointing out that areas with Prime and Plus flats could see such a trend.

“If tenants do not face any penalties when they terminate their leases early, some could back out and return the shop to HDB before the end of the six years when they feel the bite of high rental costs,” he said.

ST understands there are currently no penalties for tenants who terminate their leases within the tenancy period.

The Ministry of National Development had said in a written parliamentary reply in November 2024 that HDB generally does not renegotiate rents during the tenancy period, but operators who face serious difficulties can approach HDB for assistance.

About 7,000 shops are rented out by the HDB, while about 8,500 HDB shops are privately held.

Senior Minister of State for National Development Sun Xueling told Parliament in September 2025 that

HDB will selectively acquire privately held HDB shops if needed

, to meet the demand for new retail supply in existing estates.

Ms Sun said the authorities were aware that rents for privately owned HDB shops had seen a steep increase.

Of the privately owned shops, around 7,700 were sold on 99-year leases and still have more than 30 years left on their leases.

Another 740 shops were sold on 30-year leases, and more than 80 per cent of these have less than 10 years remaining on their leases.

These shops will progressively be returned to HDB and then tenanted out. Over time, there will be an increase in the supply of HDB shops, with a higher proportion of units directly rented out by the HDB, Ms Sun said.

As for coffee shops, HDB said on Jan 10 that it has kept rents stable in the past three years – 90 per cent of HDB coffee shops did not face any rent increases from 2023 to 2025.

“Nonetheless, there are concerns that some operators may impose high rental mark-ups on their stallholders, even though the rents these operators pay to HDB have remained largely unchanged,” it added.

To improve transparency, HDB said it will start to collect and publish data on stall rents charged by operators, so that stallholders can use the information to make better-informed decisions.

It will review the data collected in the coming months to assess a suitable platform and format for the publication of the data.

More details will be announced when they are ready.