The HDB situation in Singapore is unprecedented, and we mean that quite literally. Singapore’s public housing system – which is partway between socialised housing and free market housing – has no clear equivalent elsewhere in the world.
So when we face the end of the first 99-year leases, since HDB’s inception back in the 1960’s, there’s no true equivalent elsewhere to study. There is no overseas test case to lean on, no long-running historical precedent that tells us what should happen next. We are very much in uncharted waters, and perhaps nearing the end of the first great expedition.
This makes the question of lease decay, and the impact on housing prices, a difficult one to answer without speculation. This week, we’re making an attempt to understand lease decay; it’s appropriate since the end of the Selective En-block Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) has come about, and we’re about to enter the property rush that often follows the end of Chinese New Year.
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