Source : Channel NewsAsia - 19 Apr 2009
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has received 178 applications since the Lease Buyback Scheme was launched last month.
It is a scheme which helps seniors monetise their flats.
With the Lease Buyback Scheme, these seniors will now be able to receive a monthly payout of a few hundred dollars and continue living in their flats for 30 years after they sign up.
The scheme helps cash-poor, asset-rich seniors unlock the value of their properties.
To be eligible, you have to be at least 62 years old, live in a three-room or smaller flat, have a household income of less than S$3,000 and have not owned private property or larger flats before. Twenty-five thousand households in Singapore are eligible for the scheme.
So far, 80 per cent of these households have been informed of the scheme through door-to-door visits and outreach programmes like the one held in Ang Mo Kio on Sunday morning.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said: “I know that those who are living in four-room flats, five-room, bigger flats have asked to participate in the scheme also. This is something that we can consider later on.
“But right now, to start the programme, I think we start with the three-room flats. I think this is the group who need it most and whom we should focus on. Get the scheme working, then we can think of improving it later on.”
Mr Lee added : “This is an option, which if you like, if it suits your circumstances, you take it, it is available. But if you have other choices, your children can look after you, or you can rent out the flat, then by all means take up the other choices.”
More information about the scheme is available from HDB’s branch offices or its website.
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