Learning points from private housing market to be taken into account as VERS framework is developed

Under VERS, owners of HDB flats aged 70 years and older will vote on whether the Government should buy back their homes before their leases run out.

ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Published Sep 08, 2026, 10:59 PM

Updated Sep 08, 2026, 11:09 PM

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SINGAPORE – The Law Ministry (MinLaw) will share learning points from the collective sale regime for private developments with the Ministry of National Development (MND), even as the mechanics of the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS) are worked out.

Speaking in Parliament on Sept 8, Law Minister Edwin Tong said that when public agencies put up programmes and bring them to the House, such as changes to the collective sales regime, or – eventually – VERS, “it will have the support of the Government”.

“MND will talk to MinLaw. We’ll share our experiences on the collective sale regime, and the learning points will be shared across the different agencies,” said Tong, who was speaking on amendments to the laws governing collective sales for private strata-titled developments.

MPs He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC), Cassandra Lee (West Coast-Jurong West) and Non-Constituency MP Andre Low had noted that while collective sales and VERS have different considerations at play, changes to the collective sales framework could have implications for VERS.

Under VERS – for which details have yet to be announced – owners of HDB flats aged 70 years and older will vote on whether the Government should buy back their homes before their leases run out.

As for the collective sales regime, Parliament on Sept 8 passed amendments to the voting threshold for such sales.

The current 80 per cent voting threshold, that applies across most projects, will be lowered to 70 per cent for projects between 40 years and 59 years old, and 65 per cent for those 60 years and older.

Lee said as buildings age, maintenance becomes more costly, repairs become more frequent, upgrading becomes harder and takes longer, and at some point, “redevelopment starts to make more sense than maintenance”.

She said the changes to the thresholds for private strata-titled developments make use of a tiered framework for developments of different ages , and asked if the same logic should be applied to VERS.

Noting that private and public housing are not identical, she added that collective sales and VERS have the same policy objective – the voluntary redevelopment of an ageing estate – and any significant difference in treatment should have a clear policy basis.

Lee suggested that Singapore needs to look at the economics of ageing estates more broadly, citing programmes such as the Home Improvement Programme, Lift Upgrading Programme and Neighbourhood Upgrading Programme.

“These programmes have made a real difference to residents. They remain important. But when does it come a point when we should ask a different question?” she said.

“Not what do we need to repair, or what should we upgrade next, but when does comprehensive redevelopment make better sense?”

Meanwhile, WP’s He said the changes to the Land Titles (Strata) Act have consequences from a national public policy perspective and deal with two fundamental principles: property rights and urbanisation.

“Our debate today should consider how we balance these competing interests and minimise the impact on the minority who disagree and may otherwise feel bullied into having to accept the decision of the majority,” she said.

She said: “While details of VERS are still unavailable today, I believe we should similarly think about how we balance the interests of displaced residents against the need for urban renewal, which will be especially pertinent in the case of public housing.”

She noted that the proportion of lower-income elderly with few other housing options is likely to be higher in public housing projects, adding that many flat owners “decided to buy their flats decades ago with an eye to live in those units for the remainder of their time on Earth”.

WP’s Low raised concerns that in the cases of collective sales or VERS, “a majority may favor renewal while some of the households required to move face substantial new debt or draw or a draw on retirement savings”.

“How we address that difficulty here today will help establish what Singaporeans can expect of other renewal schemes in the future,” he said.

In response, Tong said VERS goes beyond the scope of the Bill that was debated, as the collective sales concern private strata developments, whereas VERS comes under the HDB, which maintains and upgrades flats through its own programmes.

Having said that, Tong said, he accepts there are learning points between the private and public property markets, and that these are factors that will be taken into account in VERS.

Ng Keng Gene is a correspondent at The Straits Times, reporting on issues relating to land use, urban planning and heritage.

Singapore Parliament

Residential property

根据VERS计划，70岁及以上的组屋业主将投票决定政府是否应该在租约到期前回购他们的房屋。

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发布于 2026 年 9 月 8 日晚上 10:59

更新于2026年9月8日晚上11:09

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新加坡——在制定自愿早期重建计划（VERS）的具体机制的同时，律政部（MinLaw）将与国家发展部（MND）分享私人开发项目集体出售制度的经验教训。

律政部长唐振辉于9月8日在国会发言时表示，当公共机构提出方案并提交国会审议时，例如集体出售制度的改革，或者最终的VERS计划，“将会得到政府的支持”。

“国家发展部将与律政部进行磋商。我们将分享我们在集体出售制度方面的经验，并将学习要点在各个机构之间共享，”唐先生在谈到修改私人分层地契开发项目集体出售法律时说道。

议员何廷儒（盛港集选区）、李嘉欣（西海岸-裕廊西）和非选区议员刘安德指出，虽然集体出售和VERS（自愿退役计划）的考量因素不同，但集体出售框架的改变可能会对VERS产生影响。

根据尚未公布详情的VERS计划，70岁及以上的组屋业主将投票决定政府是否应该在租约到期前回购他们的房屋。

至于集体出售制度，国会于9月8日通过了对这类出售的投票门槛的修正案。

目前适用于大多数项目的 80% 投票门槛，对于 40 年至 59 年的项目将降低至 70%，对于 60 年及以上的项目将降低至 65%。

李说，随着建筑物老化，维护成本越来越高，维修频率越来越高，升级改造越来越困难，耗时越来越长，在某种程度上，“重建比维护更有意义”。

她表示，私人分契式产权开发项目的门槛变更采用了针对不同年代的开发项目的分级框架，并询问是否应该将同样的逻辑应用于 VERS。

她指出私人住房和公共住房并不相同，并补充说，集体出售和VERS具有相同的政策目标——自愿重建老旧住宅区——任何重大区别对待都应该有明确的政策依据。

李显龙建议新加坡需要更广泛地看待老旧住宅区的经济问题，并列举了诸如居家改善计划、电梯升级计划和邻里升级计划等项目。

“这些项目确实给居民带来了改变。它们仍然很重要。但是，我们什么时候应该提出不同的问题呢？”她说道。

“不是我们需要修理什么，或者接下来应该升级什么，而是什么时候全面重建才更有意义？”

与此同时，工人党的何先生表示，土地所有权（分层地契）法的修改从国家公共政策的角度来看会产生影响，并且涉及两个基本原则：财产权和城市化。

“我们今天的辩论应该考虑如何平衡这些相互冲突的利益，并尽量减少对少数持不同意见者的影响，否则他们可能会感到被迫接受多数人的决定，”她说。

她说：“虽然目前还无法得知VERS的具体细节，但我认为我们应该同样思考如何平衡流离失所居民的利益与城市更新的需要，这在公共住房方面尤其重要。”

她指出，在公共住房项目中，低收入老年人（他们几乎没有其他住房选择）的比例可能更高，并补充说，许多公寓业主“几十年前就决定购买公寓，打算在这些公寓里度过余生”。

工人党议员刘特佐提出担忧，认为在集体出售或自愿退休计划（VERS）的情况下，“大多数人可能倾向于续约，而一些被迫搬迁的家庭将面临巨额新债务或动用退休储蓄”。

他说：“我们今天如何解决这个难题，将有助于确定新加坡人未来可以对其他续约计划抱有怎样的期望。”

对此，Tong表示，VERS超出了辩论中的法案范围，因为集体出售涉及私人分层地契开发项目，而VERS属于建屋发展局（HDB）的管辖范围，HDB通过其自身的计划维护和升级组屋。

话虽如此，Tong表示，他承认私人和公共房地产市场之间存在学习点，这些因素将在VERS中予以考虑。

吴庆根是《海峡时报》的记者，报道与土地利用、城市规划和遗产相关的问题。

新加坡国会

住宅物业