99-Year Lease Singapore: What Happens at Expiry

Aerial view of HDB blocks in Ang Mo Kio — Ang Mo Kio has some of the oldest HDB blocks, and some of the shortest remaining leases. Photo: Chuttersnap, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Standard lease: 99 years for HDB flats and most leasehold condos
At expiry: The home returns to the State; no payout to the owner
Full CPF and HDB loan: Remaining lease must cover the youngest buyer to age 95
No CPF: Below 20 years of remaining lease
VERS: Not launched; first projects expected in the first half of the 2030s

The short answer

When you buy an HDB flat or a leasehold condo in Singapore, you are buying the right to live in it for whatever is left of a lease, usually 99 years. When the lease ends, the home goes back to the State and the owner is not paid for it. Long before that, the remaining lease starts to limit how much CPF and HDB loan a buyer can use, which shrinks the pool of buyers and weighs on the price. We checked the rules below against MND, SLA, CPF and HDB on 14 October 2026.

How a 99-year lease works

The State owns the land. HDB, or a developer that buys land at a government land sale, holds it on a lease, and owners buy the remaining years of that lease. The clock starts from the lease start date, not from the day you move in, so a flat bought on resale in a 1985 block had about 58 years left in 2026.

	HDB flat	Leasehold condo or EC
Usual lease	99 years	Usually 99 years; freehold and 999-year land also exist
Lease held by	HDB, which sells flats to owners	The developer, then the unit owners
Can the lease be topped up?	No scheme for owners	Owners can apply to SLA, at a premium, with no guarantee
At expiry	Flat returns to the State	Land returns to the State

What happens when the lease runs out

The home goes back to the State and the owner has to leave. Then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong put it plainly at the 2018 National Day Rally: when the leases expire, the flats will have to return to the State. He said the Government would help residents find another home, but did not mention a payout. Compensation is paid only when the government takes flats back early, as under SERS and the planned VERS.

No HDB lease has expired yet. The closest case is private: 191 terrace houses at Lorong 3 Geylang, whose 60-year leases ended on 31 December 2020. SLA announced in 2017 that the land would return to the State for future public housing. Its December 2020 update described an officer assigned to each household and interim rental flats from HDB for owners who had not found a home, not compensation.

VERS and SERS in 2026

These are the two ways a flat can be taken back before its lease ends.

	SERS	VERS
Who chooses	The government picks the block; it is compulsory	Residents vote; it is voluntary
Which flats	Sites with high redevelopment potential, around 5% of flats	Older precincts, starting around the 70-year mark
Compensation	Market value of the flat, moving costs, and a replacement flat on a fresh 99-year lease	Lower than SERS, details not announced
Status	Last site announced April 2022 (Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3)	Not launched; first projects expected in the first half of the 2030s

Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat said in 2025 that VERS would cover a cluster of blocks rather than one at a time, that the ministry would aim to finalise the details this term, and that the overall compensation would be lower than SERS. We found no later official update as of 14 October 2026. Every flat is still expected to get two rounds of upgrading during its lease, around the 30-year and 60 to 70-year marks.

Why the remaining lease matters long before expiry

The real squeeze comes from financing. A buyer can use their full CPF, and take a full HDB loan, only if the remaining lease covers the youngest buyer to age 95. With less lease than that, both are pro-rated. Below 20 years of remaining lease, CPF cannot be used at all.

Remaining lease	Youngest buyer who gets full CPF and HDB loan
70 years	25
65 years	30
58 years	37
50 years	45
Under 20 years	No CPF for anyone

CPF’s own example: two buyers aged 25 buy a S$550,000 flat with 65 years left. The lease ends when they are 90, so they can use up to S$495,000 of CPF, or 90% of the price, instead of the full amount.

Fewer buyers who can pay full price means softer prices as the lease shortens. Our HDB lease decay check shows the lease your flat will have when you sell and the youngest buyer who can still use full CPF.

Worked example: a 1985 flat in 2026

Mr and Mrs Goh own a 4-room flat in a block whose lease started in 1985. In 2026 it has about 58 years left.

Buyers aged 37 and above can use their full CPF and a full HDB loan, because 58 years takes them to 95.
A couple aged 30 and 32 would be pro-rated: the lease ends when the younger is 88. CPF’s housing usage calculator gives the exact figure.
In 2045 the lease will be down to 39 years. Only buyers aged 56 and above get full financing then.
From about 2065 it has under 20 years left, and no buyer can use CPF.

If the Gohs want the widest pool of buyers, selling in the next few years beats waiting. If they want to stay, the Lease Buyback Scheme lets owners aged 65 and above sell the tail of the lease to HDB and keep living in the flat.

Leasehold condos

The same 99-year clock applies to most new condos and to ECs. The lease usually starts when the developer buys the land, so a condo completed a few years after the land sale already has fewer than 99 years left. The CPF and loan rules above apply to private property too.

Condo owners have two routes HDB owners do not. They can apply to SLA to top up the lease, which costs a land premium and may be refused. Or they can sell the whole estate to a developer in a collective sale. Both depend on the site and the market, so neither is a plan you can count on.

What to do with this

Find your block’s lease start year and work out the lease you will have when you plan to sell.
Check which buyers can still use full CPF at that point.
If you are 55 or older, compare selling and right-sizing with staying put. Our right-sizing guide covers the Silver Housing Bonus.

This page is general information from MND, SLA, CPF and HDB, checked on 14 October 2026.

Common questions

What happens to my HDB flat after 99 years?

The flat goes back to the State and you have to move out. Then-PM Lee Hsien Loong said at the 2018 National Day Rally that when leases expire, the flats will have to return to the State, and the Government will help residents find another home. The government pays compensation only when it takes flats back early, as under SERS or the planned VERS.

Do I get compensation when the lease runs out?

No. The lease is a right to use the home for a fixed time, so nothing is left to pay for when it ends. When 191 private terrace leases at Lorong 3 Geylang expired on 31 December 2020, SLA's updates described relocation help for owners, not payouts.

Can an HDB lease be extended?

There is no scheme to top up an HDB flat's lease. Your options are to sell while buyers can still finance the flat, to sell part of the lease to HDB under the Lease Buyback Scheme from age 65, or to wait and see whether your block is offered VERS.

What is VERS and when will it start?

The Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme lets residents of older precincts vote on whether the government buys back their flats early. Minister Chee Hong Tat said in 2025 that the first projects will most likely start in the first half of the 2030s, and that compensation will be lower than under SERS.

Is SERS still happening?

Not in any big way. The last SERS site was announced in April 2022, for Blocks 562 to 565 at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3. HDB estimated that only around 5% of flats are suitable, and the government has said it will focus on VERS instead.

Can I use CPF to buy a flat with 50 years left?

Yes, but how much depends on your age. If 50 years covers you to 95, which means you are 45 or older, you can use your CPF in full. A younger buyer gets a pro-rated amount. Below 20 years left, no CPF can be used.

Get a free valuation

Tell us your block and flat type. We'll send recent prices for your block and nearby blocks, and what a sale would leave you after your loan and CPF refund.

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources on 14 October 2026.