How can I get a retirement income from my HDB flat?

Four ways: sell and right-size (with the Silver Housing Bonus if eligible), rent out rooms or the whole flat after the MOP, sell part of the lease under the Lease Buyback Scheme from age 65, or use the flat as the base for a second property earlier in life.

Is it better to sell or rent out my home for retirement income?

It depends on the rent against the sale proceeds put to work, the loan left, and your age. Selling releases more at once; renting keeps the asset and its growth. Freedom Age compares both on your numbers.

What is my Freedom Age?

The age at which your property could start paying you the monthly income you want, from its sale, its rent or both, worked out from your household, income and home.

Four ways your home can pay you in retirement

Updated 19 September 2026. Rules as HDB and CPF state them on that date.

A Singapore home turns into a monthly income in one of four ways: sell and right-size, freeing cash and CPF for CPF LIFE and investments; rent out a room or the whole home; sell the tail end of an HDB lease back to HDB under the Lease Buyback Scheme; or buy a second property earlier in life and let its rent and growth carry you. Which one works, and at what age, depends on what you own, what you owe and what you earn.

1. Sell and right-size

The largest release of cash. Private owners can now buy a non-subsidised resale flat without the 15-month wait if they skip the HDB loan (how it works). Seniors buying a 3-room or smaller flat can add the Silver Housing Bonus of up to $40,000.

2. Rent out a room or the whole home

Keeps the asset and its growth. HDB owners of a 3-room or larger flat can rent out spare bedrooms with approval; the whole flat only after the MOP, and never for Plus and Prime flats. A condominium can be let whole at any time.

3. The Lease Buyback Scheme

For HDB owners aged 65 and above who want to stay put: sell part of the lease, top up the Retirement Account, receive a bonus of up to $30,000 and a CPF LIFE payout, and keep up to $100,000 in cash (the full rules).

4. Keep and add, earlier

The route that needs time: after the MOP, buy a second property while incomes are high, so that by your fifties one of the two can be sold to clear the other or both can be let. It carries ABSD and a second loan, and it is the one where the timing matters most (what the MOP allows).

How Freedom Age decides between them

Freedom Age asks five questions: who is planning and their ages, what you earn, what you own and owe, the monthly income you want in retirement, and where you want to go next. It prices every route that fits your household on the loan rules (TDSR 55%, a 4% stress test, 75% loan-to-value on a first housing loan), stamp duties and CPF, and returns one number: the age at which your property could start paying you that income. Then it shows the moves that bring the age forward and the year to press the button.

See it on your own numbersFive questions about your household, your home and where you want to go. Out comes the age your property could start paying you a monthly income, and the moves that bring it forward.
Find my Freedom Age

Questions people ask

How can I get a retirement income from my HDB flat?: Four ways: sell and right-size (with the Silver Housing Bonus if eligible), rent out rooms or the whole flat after the MOP, sell part of the lease under the Lease Buyback Scheme from age 65, or use the flat as the base for a second property earlier in life.
Is it better to sell or rent out my home for retirement income?: It depends on the rent against the sale proceeds put to work, the loan left, and your age. Selling releases more at once; renting keeps the asset and its growth. Freedom Age compares both on your numbers.
What is my Freedom Age?: The age at which your property could start paying you the monthly income you want, from its sale, its rent or both, worked out from your household, income and home.