Written answer by Ministry of National Development on Average Lease Retained and Payout for Past Lease Buyback Scheme Participants

Question No: 994
Question by: Mr Fadli Fawzi

To ask the Minister for National Development from 1 March 2009 to 31 December 2025 (a) what is the total number of flats that have participated in the Lease Buyback Scheme; (b) of these, how many are (i) single and (ii) two-person households; (c) what is the average number of remaining lease years sold to HDB; and (d) what is the average payout in the form of (i) cash and (ii) CPF.

Answer:

The Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) enables eligible senior homeowners to monetise their flats by selling a portion of the remaining lease to HDB, while they continue to age-in-place. As of end-2025, around 16,000 households have participated in LBS since the scheme was launched on 1 March 2009. Of these, around 6,000 are single-person households and around 7,000 are two-person households.

Under LBS, homeowners must retain a lease that can last the youngest owner till at least age 95, providing a home for life. The years of lease retained varies based on the homeowners' ages at the point of LBS and also their individual circumstances. The LBS payouts also vary widely across flat types and vary over time based on prevailing market conditions. It is therefore not meaningful to look at the overall average payout.

About nine in ten households that participated in LBS received between $100,000 and $300,000 in proceeds. Seniors who top up their CPF Retirement Account (RA) with the proceeds may also receive a cash bonus ranging from $7,500 to $30,000, depending on their flat type and CPF RA top-up amount.