Lease Buyback Scheme

The Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) lets eligible senior HDB flat owners sell the tail-end of their flat's lease to HDB while continuing to live in the flat. The proceeds are used to top up CPF Retirement Accounts (RAs), after which the owners can use their CPF RA savings to join CPF LIFE and receive monthly income for life. LBS is therefore a lease-monetisation and retirement-income route, not an ordinary open-market sale and not a grant for a new flat (HDB, accessed Aug 2026).

Published eligibility conditions

HDB's current LBS page states that all owners must have reached the eligibility age, currently 65 or older; at least one owner must be a Singapore Citizen; and gross monthly household income must be S$14,000 or less. The household must not concurrently own private residential property or more than one non-residential private property. All owners must have met the relevant Minimum Occupation Period—five years for ordinary flats and 10 years for Plus and Prime flats—and the flat must have at least 20 years of lease available to sell to HDB after retaining the required lease (HDB, accessed Aug 2026).

Retained lease and CPF retirement income

Owners choose how much lease to retain, based on the age of the youngest owner, so they can continue living in the flat for the retained period. The balance lease is sold to HDB, and the net proceeds are used for the required CPF RA top-ups. Owners below age 80 who have at least S$60,000 in the RA after the top-up are required to join CPF LIFE, subject to CPF Board rules; owners who are not eligible for CPF LIFE may receive monthly payouts under the Retirement Sum Scheme. The exact top-up requirement is age- and application-period-sensitive, so a historical table should not be copied as a current personal quote (HDB, LBS terms and conditions, accessed Aug 2026).

LBS bonus and flat-size denominator

The current HDB brochure lists an LBS bonus of up to S$30,000 for a 3-room or smaller flat, up to S$15,000 for a 4-room flat, and up to S$7,500 for a 5-room or larger flat. The bonus is linked to the amount committed to CPF retirement payouts and is pro-rated when the household does not meet the full top-up condition. These are maximums by flat-size category, not guaranteed payments to every applicant; the applicable CPF and transaction conditions determine the actual amount (HDB, LBS terms and conditions, accessed Aug 2026).

Restrictions during and after LBS

Because LBS is designed for ageing in place, the flat's retained lease is not transferable on the open market and the owner may not sell the whole flat on the open market or rent out the whole flat during the lease period. If the lease is ended early, HDB describes return and a straight-line pro-rated refund for the remaining lease; CPF LIFE continues to provide lifelong monthly income. If an owner dies during the retained lease, an eligible spouse or child living in the flat may be able to remain for the balance or return it, subject to HDB's conditions (HDB, accessed Aug 2026).

LBS compared with other monetisation routes

LBS sells part of the lease to HDB while the owner remains in the flat. The Silver Housing Bonus instead supports right-sizing to a smaller HDB flat and committing net sale proceeds to retirement payouts. Renting out a spare bedroom can provide income without selling the lease, while VERS and SERS are separate public-housing redevelopment or lease-ending frameworks. These routes should not be collapsed: each has different ownership, occupancy, timing, CPF and eligibility consequences.