From 1 January to 31 March, HDB received over 200 LBS applications from owners of such larger units after the scheme was extended to them at the start of this year.
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) revealed that over 20 households living in five-room and bigger flats have sold part of their unit’s lease back to the board under the Lease Buyback Scheme during the first quarter of 2019, reported Channel News Asia.
From 1 January to 31 March, HDB received over 200 LBS applications from owners of such larger units after the scheme was extended to them at the start of this year.
The extension saw around 34,000 households becoming eligible for the scheme, taking the total number of households eligible for LBS to around 130,000.
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The scheme enables elderly flat owners to monetise their units while continuing to live in them by selling back to the HDB at least 20 years of the unit’s remaining lease.
Among those who have availed of the LBS was Ow Binbing.
The 67-year old former music teacher sold 53 years of her Executive Apartment’s (EA) lease back to the HDB in January. Despite the sale, there was still enough years left on the lease to enable her to live in the Punggol flat until she is 97.
Ow acquired the nine-year old unit from the resale market in 2012 for $630,000, after disposing her Farrer Park condominium unit.
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She shared that her LBS application, which was filed on 10 January, was handled promptly.
“It was very fast. On the same day at 5pm, the valuer came and took photos and video of everything. A week later, I received my valuation.”
Ow’s 1,378 sq ft unit was valued at $560,000, while the 53 years lease she intended to sell was valued at around $269,500.
As the sole owner of the flat, she received $187,000 in cash including a $5,000 bonus after using the net proceeds first to top up her CPF Retirement Account to the Full Retirement Sum, which is part of the scheme’s conditions.
This gave her retirement payouts a boost – from $720 to over $1,100 per month.
“For me, it’s good but for others such as couples, they may not like it because the cash from the proceeds could be little depending on how much they have in their CPF retirement account. I only had to top up my CPF a bit,” she added.
Fiona Ho, Digital Content Manager at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email fiona@propertyguru.com.sg
