Committee of Supply 2025 debate, Day 3: Pritam Singh on retirement adequacy of HDB resale flat buyers
A significant number of HDB resale flats are bought by first-time married couples who have to devote a big chunk of their CPF retirement funds to servicing mortgage payments. When they want to sell, the equity in their flat is likely to have been depleted due to lease decay. Compared to their peers who buy a new BTO flat, buyers of older resale flats will have less money to downgrade upon retirement and less for CPF Life payouts too. Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh said this in parliament on Tuesday (Mar 4). He noted that increasing CPF resale grants could have the perverse effect of sellers raising prices even more. He asked if the government would consider giving resale flat buyers the option of putting aside a portion of the grant to top up their CPF Special Account instead of using the entire amount for the flat purchase.
A significant number of HDB resale flats are bought by first-time married couples who have to devote a big chunk of their CPF retirement funds to servicing mortgage payments. When they want to sell, the equity in their flat is likely to have been depleted due to lease decay. Compared to their peers who buy a new BTO flat, buyers of older resale flats will have less money to downgrade upon retirement and less for CPF Life payouts too. Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh said this in parliament on Tuesday (Mar 4). He noted that increasing CPF resale grants could have the perverse effect of sellers raising prices even more. He asked if the government would consider giving resale flat buyers the option of putting aside a portion of the grant to top up their CPF Special Account instead of using the entire amount for the flat purchase.
Popular Shows
