Starting with the Merdeka generation and every generation which followed, it was a matter of faith. Work hard, keep quiet, save for retirement and buy a HDB flat - getting on the housing ladder would lead to a better future and a comfortable, secure old age.
Today, retirement and housing has become like a game of snakes and ladders, but with more snakes and fewer ladders. Effectively, almost all HDB flats will turn into depreciating assets worth zero. This is the ticking time bomb of the lease decay.
Singapore’s globally envied public housing programme was built on land which must revert back to the government when the leases’ 99 years are up. There is no lease extension, and no compensation.
The government has said this is the only way to recycle land and provide affordable housing to future generations. If so, then why does the SERS, the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme, pay market price as compensation? What makes only 5 percent of all HDBs SERS-worthy, has not been officially detailed. There is the VERS, the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme, which is still being shaped, but the government has made clear it will be less attractive.
Fundamental policy changes which are transparent and equitable on public housing has become critical. The future cannot be a lottery at the whim of the government.
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