The Usual Place Podcast: To Vers or not to Vers: How will this scheme affect HDB prices?
The clock is ticking on the leases for older Housing Board flats, and an answer on what the Government plans to do about lease decay dropped earlier this week.
National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat
gave an update on the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (Vers) in an interview that was published on Aug 10, outlining in broad strokes the plans for flats nearing the end of their 99-year leases.
The gist: Vers will let home owners of selected precincts that are aged about 70 and up choose if they want their homes to be acquired by the Government for redevelopment before their leases run out.
The scheme will start in the 2030s, and will likely begin 'with a few selected sites', said Mr Chee.
For many homeowners living in old flats, this announcement provides them with some direction on what happens should they choose Vers – or not.
In this episode of The Usual Place, ST land use reporter Ng Keng Gene and Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at Realion Group, join me to discuss how this announcement will affect housing prices and considerations for buying an old flat.
Tune in at 12pm SGT/HKT to watch the livestream, and share your thoughts on our YouTube channel.
Follow The Usual Place Podcast live at noon every Thursday and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel:
https://str.sg/5nfm
Apple Podcasts:
https://str.sg/9ijX
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Asia India, Singapore ministers discuss deeper tie-ups in digitalisation, skills, industrial parks
Business More seniors remain employed after retirement and re-employment ages raised in 2022: MOM study
Singapore askST: Will assets seized in $3b money laundering case be sold at public auctions?
Asia Malaysia's ex-economy minister says his son was jabbed with syringe in planned attack
Business StarHub first-half profit falls 41.7% to $47.9m; telco eyes 'more aggressive stance' amid competition
Business CapitaLand Investment first-half profit falls 13.3%, appoints new CEO of private funds
Life Taylor Swift's new album, The Life of a Showgirl, will release on Oct 3
Spotify:
https://str.sg/cd2P
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNA
13 hours ago
- CNA
Intel shares rise as report of likely government stake stokes hopes of US aid
Intel shares rose nearly 3 per cent on Friday on hopes of more financial aid for the turnaround of the struggling chipmaker after a report that the U.S. government may buy a stake. The Bloomberg News report followed a meeting between CEO Lip-Bu Tan and President Donald Trump on Monday after Trump demanded the new Intel chief's resignation over his "highly conflicted" ties to Chinese firms. Trump, who called the meeting "very interesting", has taken an unprecedented approach to interventions and deal-making with corporate America. His administration had struck a deal with MP Materials that would make the Department of Defense the largest shareholder of the rare-earth producer. Federal backing could give Intel more time to revive its loss-making foundry business, analysts said, but it still faces a weak product roadmap and trouble attracting customers for new factories. Under the Biden administration, Intel had emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the 2022 CHIPS Act, as former CEO Pat Gelsinger laid out plans to build advanced factories. Tan, however, pared back such ambitions, slowing construction of new plants in Ohio. He plans to build factories based on demand for the services, which analysts have said could put him at odds with Trump's push to shore up American manufacturing. The report said a deal would help build out the Ohio plant, which has faced delays and was expected to be completed by 2030. It could be a "game-changer", said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. But he warned "government support might help shore up confidence, but it doesn't fix the underlying competitiveness gap in advanced nodes." Intel lost its competitive edge years ago to Taiwan's TSMC. It has virtually no presence in the booming AI chips market dominated by Nvidia and is losing market share in PCs and datacenters to AMD. Its latest 18A manufacturing process is facing quality issues, Reuters has reported, as only a small share of chips produced are good enough for customers, while it remains partly dependent on TSMC to make Intel in-house designed chips. "Intel also needs capability; can the US government do anything to help here?" Bernstein analysts said.


CNA
15 hours ago
- CNA
Hong Kong Q2 GDP expands 3.1% y/y, full-year growth forecast maintained
HONG KONG :Hong Kong's economy expanded by 3.1 per cent in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier, supported by a surge in rush shipments following the temporary easing of U.S. tariff measures, the government said on Friday. The latest GDP figure was in line with the official estimate released in late July, marking the 10th consecutive quarter of expansion on the back of robust exports and strengthening domestic demand. Export performance was further boosted by a rebound in inbound tourism, increased cross-boundary traffic and a buoyant local stock market, all contributing to strong growth in services exports. Hong Kong's economy has been growing steadily in the past 2.5 years and the government said it was maintaining its full-year growth forecast of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent. Economic growth in the first quarter of 2025 was 3.0 per cent year-on-year, an improvement from 2.5 per cent recorded during the same period last year, the government said. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, GDP expanded 0.4 per cent in April-June, the data showed. That compared with a revised 1.8 per cent in January-March and 0.9 per cent in October-December 2024. "Looking ahead, the Hong Kong economy is expected to maintain growth for the rest of 2025," acting government economist Cecilia Lam said in a statement. She added that measures to boost consumption and attract investment would support growth. "Yet, the tariff rates announced by the U.S. in early August stay elevated, and its tariff policy on some commodities remains quite uncertain," Lam said, adding that uncertainty around the pace of U.S. interest rate cuts would affect local investment sentiment. The forecasts for underlying and headline consumer price inflation rates for 2025 were maintained at 1.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. Overall investment expenditure rose further, driven by a sharp increase in spending on machinery, equipment, and intellectual property products. Meanwhile, private consumption returned to growth after four consecutive quarters of decline, according to the government.


CNA
16 hours ago
- CNA
Hong Kong Q2 GDP expands 3.1% year/year
HONG KONG :Hong Kong's economy expanded by 3.1 per cent in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier, the government said on Friday, supported by strong exports performance and improved domestic demand. The economy grew 3.0 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 and 2.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, the economy expanded 0.4 per cent in April-June, the data showed. That compared with a revised 1.8 per cent in January-March and 0.9 per cent in October-December 2024.