do average sgporean have a choice? not many people like you own
private property i assume. i'm not a cost expert, but let me do
simple maths here. After 50 years, your old HDB house still has
market value (luckily, but definitely not as competitive as younger
flats), that's why u top up the difference in market value with the
new HDB flat u gonna get.
eg. say they arrange a HDB 4 room market value (new) =>
$200,000
your old HDB 4 room market value (50 years old) =>
$100,000 (originally u buy the flat for $30,000 50 years
ago)
they give u discount/perk like $50,000, so u have to top up
$50,000 to move into the new house (look, either u take the deal or
move elsewhere yourself, obviously u couldn't stay any longer in
that old flat)
now u know our government is kind and good to his people?
agree with angel here. not everyone have the ability to afford
the top up. for example, if u have bought a new unit when you are
25 yr old, fully cleared ur debts by 40, retiring at 65. you may
not have the money to fork out 50k, 100k to top up for a new flat
if your property was confiscated before the 99 yr lease is up.
and why should you pay for something which you already
rightfully own? not everyone buys a HDB unit for investment. most
buyers seek a house to live in, and they are content to live in the
unit for as long as they live. these people are clearly not
interested whether their house still retain any value or not.
and who says you cannot live in old units? there are buildings
over 100 yrs old in singapore, and yet they are still functioning.
in Vietnam, people are still living in buildings from the French
colonial era, more than 100 yrs old in age. clearly, a HDB flat can
last for 99 yrs.
and why sell us the lease at 99 yrs when we all know that it is
bound to be confiscated back by the government before the lease is
up, without any compensation? ( allowing you a cheaper unit doesn't
equate to monetary compensation). we bought our flats from HDB,
from the government, and it is just right that they observe the
sale, fulfilling their side of the bargain, ensuring that we get
compensation if they decided to evict us before the lease we paid
for is up.
it is just like buying a car. it is ok to scrap the car when it
reaches the end of its COE period. you do not expect the government
to scrap ur COE before the 10 yrs are up, and confiscate ur car,
while at the same time saying that they will subsidise ur purchase
of a new car. Why get a new car/flat, when it is still working
fine, physically and legally?
HDB is a scam. take ur money, take ur flat, build new flats,
repeat cycle again and again.