Some critics have pointed out that concerns about lease decay are borne out of genuine distress and not greed as Singaporeans were promised for decades that public housing is an asset that will keep appreciating.
SINGAPORE: A number of Singaporeans online have agreed that the 99-year-lease on public flats should not be politicised, after a forum letter writer expressed that he does not believe that there is an issue at all with the matter of lease decay.wrote that every so often, there are those who voice concerns over the decaying leases of HDB flats, adding that an understanding of the nature of leases is needed.
Therefore, no issue needs to be resolved, as Singaporeans buy these properties of their own free will, regardless of whether or not they put the bulk of their savings into the purchase. “When you purchase a HDB flat it’s not called a sales and purchase agreement. It’s called an agreement for lease. It’s understood what lease means for 99 years,” another commenter reasoned.
Nearly ten years prior to that, then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong responded to criticism over the high prices of housing in 2010 and said: “This is a social responsibility which we have undertaken and that’s the reason why we are re-elected… No country in the world has given its citizens an asset as valuable as what we’ve given every family here. And if you say that policy is at fault, you must be daft.”
Mr Wong warned that not all old flats will be automatically eligible for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme and that only 4 per cent of HDB flats have been identified for Sers since it was launched in 1995. The burgeoning public backlash over the deprecating values of the HDB flats became exacerbated when International Property Advisor chief executive Ku Swee Yong advised “that we be honest with ourselves and recognise that we are merely lessees who rent the HDB flats for their terms”.
Later, Mr Wong backed Mr Lee’s views and asserted that the notion that HDB flat buyers are merely renters is “factually and legally wrong.” He further cautioned that while the government welcomes feedback on public housing, “the debate must always be based on facts, not misinformation and half-truths.”In March 2019, ex-PM frontrunner Heng Swee Keat lashed out at criticism that HDB dwellers are simply tenants instead of homeowners and asked people to “get real,” at the annual PropNex conference.
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