Government raises seller stamp duties on residential properties to curb rise in ‘flipping'
These changes will take effect for all residential properties purchased on and after Jul 4, 2025, 12.00am, the Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Finance and Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a statement late Thursday (Jul 3) night.
The authorities said: 'The revised SSD will not affect HDB owners due to the Minimum Occupation Period for HDB flats.'
'In recent years, the number of private residential property transactions with short holding periods has increased sharply. In particular, there has been a significant increase in the sub-sale of units that have not been completed.'
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AsiaOne
3 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Compensation, rehousing options crucial to flat owners from older estates selling their flats under Vers, Singapore News
The size of the compensation package and rehousing options will weigh heavily in their decision to sell their HDB flats back to the Government under the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (Vers), elderly residents living in older estates have said. They were reacting to National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat's remarks in an interview that his ministry aims to use the current term of Parliament to develop the policy framework for the scheme. This includes identifying possible sites where the scheme will be first offered, ensuring that there are sufficient homes for those involved to relocate to, and working out a fair compensation package for residents whose flats are taken back early. Once the policy parameters are in place, Vers will be progressively offered to a 'few selected' sites likely from the first half of the next decade when the flats there are about 70 years old, Chee said. Vers was first announced by then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2018 to allow the Government to buy back flats nearing their 99-year lease by compensating residents and redeveloping the land. It addresses the issue of lease decay and the resulting decline in value of older flats. While Chee's comments on Aug 10 mark the Government's latest update on Vers, most of the 12 residents from older estates such as Ang Mo Kio and Bedok whom AsiaOne spoke to were unaware of what the scheme entails. Ang Mo Kio resident Claire Chiam said that she will consider the implications to her retirement nest if the Government offers to buy back her flat. The 70-year-old retiree moved into the three-room flat on Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 a year ago. It was built in 1978. 'I don't know what's the arrangement, I hope it will not be like Sers (Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme) where the residents there still have to cough up cash to buy (a) similar-sized flat. And there were people not happy about it,' Chiam said. 'Unless it is for downgrading, Old people like us don't have that much cash and CPF already.' Unlike Sers, Vers is voluntary where residents will vote on whether the project goes ahead. In his interview, Chee said that the compensation terms for Vers will be less generous than those chosen under Sers, as the flats chosen will be older, and hence, less money. One Bedok resident, who wanted to be known as Tang, said she will be looking at the replacement homes offered before making a decision. 'If they are further from where I live right now, it will be at a disadvantage,' said the 63-year-old part-time retail assistant. Speaking to AsiaOne, Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA Singapore, said that implementing Vers is a 'significant undertaking' that requires 'sensitivity and prudence'. 'There are also concerns that compensation could be lower than under Sers. Therefore, this could lead to some older owners having to weigh the affordability of replacement homes carefully, and as a result, they may be reluctant to participate in Vers,' he said. 'This could, in turn, dampen participation and increase its complexity.' Since flats built in the 70s would have natural wear and tear that can make living conditions less attractive and comfortable, Lim said that these owners will be hoping that their blocks are identified for Vers. Chee said that several older estates were rapidly built in the 1970s and 1980s to meet the urgent housing demand. According to ERA Singapore, 356 blocks were built in Ang Mo Kio during this period, and about 39,600 new flats were sold by HDB then. In Bedok, 419 blocks were completed, with about 47,000 new flats sold. In the 1980s, 494 blocks were built in Tampines and 487 blocks in Yishun. In each town, more than 40,000 new units were sold. Lim said that offering incentives, such as giving flat owners priority in selecting a replacement home within their current location, could lead to higher take ups for Vers. But Ang Mo Kio resident Ng Kim Wan said that the decaying lease of his 40-year-old flat is not an issue, and would rather stay there until the end of his life. The 75-year-old retiree said: 'Vers is good for the younger home owners to get a flat with a longer lease. It's not for older folks whose children are not living with us. 'I will have to adapt to living in a new flat, a new environment. And where can I find the money for renovation and furniture?' [[nid:721026]] Chingshijie@
CNA
20 hours ago
- CNA
Getting residents to buy into VERS could be a challenge: Real estate analysts
Real estate analysts said it could be challenging to get residents to buy into the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme, or VERS. Some said the government could make it more attractive by offering incentives, such as priority in purchasing a new flat. Residents of older estates have voiced concerns over compensation and affordability of flats in the area. As home owners have diverse needs, experts said sensitivity and prudence is required if VERS is to adequately address the impact of lease decay.
Online Citizen
21 hours ago
- Online Citizen
Yeoh Lam Keong calls VERS approach to HDB lease decay 'too little, too late'
Former GIC chief economist Yeoh Lam Keong has warned that Singapore's reliance on the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS) to address the ageing of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats risks leaving many households' retirement savings exposed. In a Facebook post on 11 August 2025, Yeoh described the government's latest reforms under National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat as 'steps in the right direction' but ultimately insufficient. He noted that for the bottom 50% of households, HDB flats constitute 80–90% of their net worth. By the time flats reach the 70-year lease mark and become eligible for VERS, much of their value would already have depreciated. Yeoh cautioned that allowing this erosion of asset value could create a heavier long-term financial burden on the state in the form of increased income support for elderly citizens. He suggested a more comprehensive approach: a guaranteed Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) for all HDB estates, planned over 90–100 years. This, he argued, could be funded through an annual sinking fund and higher plot ratios for redeveloped mixed-use projects. According to Yeoh, this proposal was detailed in a policy paper co-authored with architect Tay Kheng Soon and property consultant Ku Swee Yong, submitted to the Ministry of National Development (MND) and then-Finance Minister Lawrence Wong in November 2019. The 2019 proposals In their public housing paper, Addressing Singapore's Key Housing Problems: Asset Protection, Affordability and Access, the three experts proposed that HDB owners should be given an affordable, automatic one-time 99-year lease top-up after 50 years. They argued that such a measure would immediately address the depreciation of older flats, while retaining state land ownership through the Singapore Land Authority. Owners affected by redevelopment could be compensated with a flat of equivalent use value and location, mirroring current SERS provisions. The paper suggested a base lease renewal fee of about 3% of the average market value of a resale flat—around S$15,000 for a 4-room flat or S$10,000 for a 3-room unit—payable over 10–15 years at no interest. Lower-income owners could be charged nominal fees as low as 10% of the guideline price. Beyond the lease top-up, the authors proposed state-funded reconstruction of HDB flats every 100 years, citing structural concerns with reinforced concrete over long periods. Under this plan, owners would receive a new, sustainably designed flat with a fresh 99-year lease at no rebuilding cost. The group also called for closer alignment of Build-To-Order and retirement flat prices to construction costs, as well as a sufficient stock of high-quality subsidised rental flats for the bottom 30% of income earners, especially in a volatile gig economy. They argued that Singapore's large fiscal reserves, land ownership and past compulsory acquisitions made such reforms affordable and sustainable. Yeoh warned at the time that failing to act—'do nothing'—would invite a housing crisis in future decades. Current government stance VERS was first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his National Day Rally speech in 2018 as a way to allow more HDB households to benefit from redevelopment before their 99-year leases expired. Lease expiry had become a growing concern among homeowners, and then-National Development Minister Lawrence Wong revealed in a 2018 CNA interview that the government had been studying the matter since 2016. However, despite this review period now spanning almost a decade, no detailed framework has been released. The CNA report this week, which ran extensively through Minister Chee Hong Tat's remarks, offered more context than content: timelines were provided, but concrete mechanisms — such as how sites will be chosen, exact compensation formulas, and financial modelling — remain absent. Minister Chee said the framework will be finalised during the current government term, before September 2030, and that public engagement will be used to shape its parameters. In effect, after nearly nine years of discussion, the key features of VERS are still undecided. The only confirmed points are that VERS will be rolled out in selected sites in the first half of the next decade, it will be voluntary rather than compulsory, and it will target flats at about 70 years of age — meaning residents are likely to receive less compensation than under SERS. Chee stressed that redevelopment would be staged over two to three decades to avoid a housing crunch in the 2070s and 2080s, while HIP II would be used to keep 60–70-year-old flats liveable until lease expiry. Yeoh's comments reflect broader public concerns that, despite the long lead time and repeated public references to VERS, the government still appears far from delivering a detailed, actionable policy to address lease decay and safeguard retirement security.
