HDB Shop Rental Trends and Efforts to Keep Rents Affordable

11 Ms Mariam Jaafar asked the Minister for National Development (a) for each year in the past three years, what has been the year-on-year increase in average rental per square foot for HDB commercial units (i) rented directly from HDB (ii) sublet from a master tenant that rents from HDB and (iii) sublet from a private owner, respectively; and (b) whether HDB is considering approaches to keep rental rates in check in each of these categories.

12 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for National Development for each of the past five years, including 2025 to date, what is the average rent per square metre and average rent quantum for commercial units successfully tendered out by HDB that year for medical facilities (i) island-wide (ii) within existing HDB blocks and (iii) within new BTO developments, respectively.

13 Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether an update can be provided on HDB’s efforts to keep the rent of HDB shops affordable, in particular those selling cooked food or providing medical services; and (b) whether HDB is exploring ways to moderate rental increases in high-rent areas, including by increasing the supply of HDB-owned shops.

14 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for National Development (a) as of August 2025, how many HDB shops are (i) sold and (ii) rented out directly by HDB respectively; (b) how many HDB shops which have been sold have a remaining lease of less than 10 years, as of August 2025; and (c) whether the recent steep rise in the rent of privately held HDB rental shops is due to a shortage in supply of HDB shops.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Ms Sun Xueling) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, may I have your permission to answer Question Nos 11, 12, 13 and 14 in today's Order Paper together?

Mr Speaker: Please go ahead.

Ms Sun Xueling: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) plans its towns and estates comprehensively to ensure that residents have convenient access to affordable goods and services. A key measure is to ensure a good supply of shops in every HDB estate and town, so that there is healthy competition. As of August 2025, there are around 15,500 HDB shops in Singapore. Of these, about 8,500 are sold and hence, privately owned, and about 7,000 are rented out by HDB.

For shops rented out by HDB, there are various measures in place to keep rents stable. All shops are typically rented out by HDB for a period of three years. When the existing tenancy is due for renewal, the rent for the next tenancy period is assessed by professional valuers appointed by HDB, taking into account recent rents of comparable premises in the vicinity as well as prevailing market and local conditions. Under this approach, rents in 90% of HDB rental shops have not seen an increase in rents in the last five years. Over the last three years, average rents increased at a moderate pace of between 1.3% and 3.3% per year.

For all new generation neighbourhood centres, new eating houses and new supermarkets, HDB applies the price quality method (PQM) tender with 60% of points assigned to the quality of the operator, which includes aspects such as good track record and community initiatives. Such tenders allow HDB to holistically evaluate both price and quality factors instead of simply awarding to the highest priced bid.

As for HDB shops that are sold, their rents are determined by their respective owners, similar to any other private property.

We are aware that per-square-foot rents for privately-owned HDB shops have seen a steep increase recently. This coincided with a higher proportion of rental transactions involving smaller sized units, which tend to command higher per-square-foot rents.

HDB ceased the sale of HDB shops in 1998 and now rents out shops to businesses directly. There are around 740 privately-owned HDB shops sold on 30-year leases, more than 80% of which have less than 10 years of lease remaining. These shops will progressively be returned to HDB and then tenanted out.

The remaining of around 7,700 privately-held HDB shops were sold on 99-year leases and they still have more than 30 years on their lease remaining.

HDB will continue to provide new shops in new public housing developments and we will also inject new retail supply to meet demand in existing estates when necessary, including the option of selectively acquiring privately-held HDB shops if needed.

Overall, we will see an increase in the supply of HDB shops, a higher proportion of which will be directly rented out by the HDB.

On the rents for HDB shops tended out for medical facilities, I will provide the average rent per square foot. This is because shop units of different sizes and the absolute rent quantum, therefore, does not provide a meaningful comparison. The average rent per square foot was $10.40 in 2020, $10 in 2021, $16.80 in 2022, $17.50 in 2023, $22.70 in 2024, and $28.50 in the first half of 2025.

For vacated units in existing HDB blocks, which are typically in older estates, the average rent per square foot increased from $5.70 in 2020, to $11.40 in the first half of 2025. In comparison, the average rent per square foot is higher for new lettings in new Build-To-Order (BTO) developments, which increased from $12.30 in 2020, to $39.30 in the first half of 2025. The difference is mainly due to the fact that these new leases are located in newer residential areas where the shop units are newer and the businesses may consider them to be more attractive.

Until recently, we have been letting out most shop units for general practitioner (GP) clinics purely based on price. To improve quality outcomes and to lower the bidding pressure, HDB and the Ministry of Health (MOH) have started piloting PQM tenders for GP clinics since May this year, with 70% of points assigned to the quality of the operator. For the first PQM tender awarded to a GP clinic in Bartley Beacon, the awarded rent was $16.70 per square foot, which is lower than the average awarded bid of $35.50 per square foot for designated GP clinic tenders in new housing projects awarded in the last three years.

On sublet rents, HDB currently does not collect these data, which are part of the contractual agreements between HDB tenants and their sub-tenants. We understand the concerns that sublet rents could increase more significantly than what HDB charges the main tenant. We will continue to monitor the situation and explore appropriate ways to provide more information to all stakeholders.

Mr Speaker: Ms Mariam Jaafar.

Ms Mariam Jaafar (Sembawang): I thank the Senior Minister of State for her reply. I have two supplementary questions. The first is on the rental increases by category. I think the Senior Minister of State talked about the increase for private-owned properties as well as properties rented directly by HDB. But I did ask about that category of a sublet rents. I understand that that has gone up significantly, and if HDB's increases are only in the 1.3% to 3.5% range to the master tenant, I do believe that is going up much more for their sublets. So, what is HDB doing about that?

Secondly, on the medical clinics, could the Senior Minister of State share what are some of the quality measures that have been given priority? And in particular, do the opening hours of the clinics qualify as markers of quality? I ask this because I have asked this a few times in the House. In my area in Woodlands North Plaza, which is a big commercial centre, we have three medical clinics, none of which operate after 5.00 pm, and only till 12.00 pm on Saturdays, which is really unhelpful, especially for young families and families with seniors, where people have to take leave just to take their loved ones to the clinic.

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for her two supplementary questions. I will handle the second question first. I have shared that HDB and MOH have started piloting the PQM tender for GP clinics. For the quality condition, where 70% of the points are awarded in this category, the following areas are considered. One is the care model, whether the clinic is offering multi-disciplinary care. The second area is the manpower quality, whether or not the assistants in the clinic have undergone training, whether the staff have undergone training. And thirdly, specifically on the operation side of the house, which is the operating hours. So, I hope that answers the Member's second question.

On the issue of sublet rent, indeed, that is an area of concern. We have been hearing anecdotal feedback. Per my main reply, unfortunately, at this stage, we do not collect the data of the rents between the master tenant and the sublet rent, though there would be instances where the data is actually furnished to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), because they have to pay stamp duties on rental leases.

Moving forward, I have shared that for new neighbourhood centres, we are applying the PQM model. And apart from looking at the generic affordability within the quality condition, we might look at how there can be a better provisioning of information with regards to sublet rent as part of the quality metrics.

Mr Speaker: Mr Henry Kwek.

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry (Kebun Baru): I thank the Senior Minister of State for her comprehensive response. I have a supplementary question on the rental in the resale shops, shops that are sold by HDB. I welcome the openness of MND to consider all options, including compulsory acquisitions. Can I just check: will MND be open to prioritising trades, where the cost of rental are leading to a much higher cost of living implications, for example, cooked food, so that interventions can be done sooner than later, given that that is a pressing concern on many Singaporeans' minds?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his supplementary question. I did mention in my main reply that we will look at the option of selectively acquiring privately-held HDB shops, if necessary, and definitely, one of the considerations would be whether or not the product and service is essential.

But that said, I do want to also take a step back and make sure that we remember the larger picture, which is that the sold shops are privately owned. And the owners of these shops have obviously made their business calculations. And if I may refer Members to a recent Straits Times commentary by Prof Sing Tien Foo, who is a professor in the Department of Real Estate at the National University of Singapore, he did share that, ultimately, there is a limit as to how much private landlords can raise rents before losing their tenants.

I think that we have to allow market forces to play out. There is demand and supply considerations. Landlords make their business decisions. Tenants make their business decisions, but I think that when it comes to essential services, specifically in the areas of food and medical service, we will take a more critical look at it, especially where we deem that the supply in an area is less than what would be optimal, then HDB would look into potentially, selectively, acquiring shops so that overall supply goes up and that there are more options for residents in that area.

Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Chua.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): Thank you, Speaker. Just two quick supplementary questions. Firstly, I do welcome the PQM at Bartley Beacon for the GP clinic. I just wanted to understand for subsequent renewals of the GP clinics at HDB estates, would there also be a similar requirement to have the quality of healthcare provision, being assessed as part of the renewal condition?

And secondly, in terms of the PQM method for new tenders across other trade mix, such as dental and so on, are these also being considered?

Ms Sun Xueling: I am sorry, I did not quite catch the second question, but I will respond to the first one first. As I mentioned, HDB and MOH embarked on our first PQM tender in May this year. This was awarded in August, so we are still looking at the experience of conducting these PQM tenders, and we are thinking what would be the appropriate steady-state model.

But indeed, because medical services are essential to the community, I would say that it is more likely that we would be implementing PQM to more clinics rather than less. And for sure, new GP clinics in HDB estates will use the PQM approach. As for the Member's second question? I apologise.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: Extending the PQM method to other trade mix like dental and all that.

Ms Sun Xueling: Yes, I had mentioned in my main reply that for all new neighbourhood centres, we are applying PQM for our HDB rental shops.

Mr Speaker: Mr Ang Wei Neng.

Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast-Jurong West): I thank the Senior Minister of State for her comprehensive answer, but I want to ask how many sold shops have HDB acquired so far and under what circumstances would HDB consider acquiring the HDB-sold flats. I ask this because I understand that some of the owners of the current HDB-sold flats often lease them out to the highest possible rent and frequently, this could result in units being leased to businesses, like spas or licensed moneylenders who can pay a higher rent. This, in turn, can lead to an undesirable business mix in the neighbourhood.

Thus, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether HDB would consider accelerating the acquisition of HDB-sold flats, in particular in the Nanyang division, where we have new BTO flats, but we do not have new supply of HDB shops and there is a shortage of eating houses.

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his question. I will come back to the Member as to whether or not we have selectively acquired any HDB-sold shops before. I do not think we have done so, but let me come back to you on that point, because I have mentioned that this is not our current policy. [Please refer to "Clarification by Senior Minister of State for National Development", Official Report, 14 October 2025, Vol 96, Issue 7, Clarification section.]

And if we should look into it, it would be based on what I have shared with the Member Mr Henry Kwek earlier, who had asked a similar question, we would have to look at the overall supply of shops in the area. We have to decide whether or not these are essential services that we are concerned about. We have to determine if the market forces at play are not at the right balance, where residents are being adequately cared for. And it is only where all these conditions are met that we will consider selectively acquiring shops.

I will just like to share where the difficulty level is. You must understand that for the specific situations that Members are most concerned about, those sold shops were probably sold at a high market price, in the first place, to begin with.

So, what Members seem to be suggesting is to ask HDB to acquire that already highly priced sold shop. That is one possibility. Another possibility is to selectively acquire shops around it to increase supply. These are two different scenarios.

If we are to look at acquiring the sold shop, which is already transacted at a high price, I do not think that that is a good use of taxpayers' money. But if we are looking at selectively acquiring shops around that sold shop, which is charging a very high rental, leading to high product prices and so on and so forth, that is something that we can consider, but we will have to look at the overall supply of shops in the market, and what are the products and services they are offering.

Mr Speaker: Mr Pritam Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the Senior Minister of State for the range of replies on this issue. My question pertains to her point in her main answer. I believe Senior Minister of State repeated it in her reply to Member Ms Mariam Jaafar. This pertains to the sublet data. The Senior Minister of State said that HDB will continue to monitor this area.

Can I suggest to the Senior Minister of State that publication of this information would give, short of being a canary in the coal mine, a good indication of what is the situation involving some of the cost pressures that affect Singaporeans on the ground? So, rather than just monitor it, perhaps HDB should take a further step forward in line with what she said about IRAS data, for example, and compile it for the general public.

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for the suggestion. Indeed, I have mentioned that we are monitoring the situation and by that I mean that we will have to look at the data that is available. Some of the data might not be very clean, in particular, because some of the disclosure of the data is disclosed to IRAS, and then the Urban Redevelopment Authority pulls the data from IRAS, and then, we post it on Real Estate Information System (REALIS), which is URA-maintained. So, we do have data that we can look at.

After we look at that data, where we know that there are imperfections in the market, where possible, we will look at how to potentially intervene.

But I would just caution that we might not want to overstep the boundaries, because fundamentally there is a commercial transaction between the master tenant and the sublet tenant. They both have their business considerations. So, while we maintain an open stance that the HDB, while promoting greater transparency of data and we can potentially act, I would just like to caveat that we may not also want to overstep, because there are market forces at play. We have to let business owners, whether or not it is the landlord or the sublet tenant, make their decisions based on what they deem is relevant and suitable for their business considerations.

1.03 pm

Mr Speaker: In spite of my best endeavours, we only cleared 14 PQs today. Order. End of Question Time. The Clerk will now proceed to read the Orders of the day.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]