For a household weighing its first move from an HDB flat to a private home, a debate aired by Stacked Homes on 12 October 2026 bears directly on the supply side of that move. The publication's deputy editor examined a suggestion, raised by some Members of Parliament, that people owning several properties should pay an extra tax, and questioned whether the homes it shook loose would suit upgraders at all.
The starting point is the shape of ownership. According to Stacked Homes, around 80% of Singaporeans live in HDB flats, and the rules cap ownership of those flats at one each. Private homes make up roughly 20% of homeowners, and most people buying a condo are upgrading from HDB with a family-sized unit in mind. Since nobody can build up a holding of HDB flats, owning several homes is in practice a private-market matter.
That profile matters because of how many investment purchases were structured. During the "sell one, buy two" period, the article recalls, buyers often kept a bigger unit to live in and added one- or two-bedders as rentals. Should a levy prompt sales, the writer argues, the stock returning to market would lean towards those compact layouts, which sit awkwardly with the needs of a growing household.
The piece also points out that buyers who came in later already carry constraints their predecessors did not, namely Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty and debt-servicing limits. Instead of a fresh tax, it puts forward two ideas of its own. One would allow owners to hold on to their HDB flat when buying private property once the five-year Minimum Occupation Period has run, though not the other way round. The second would reduce the loan quantum for a second or subsequent property, whether or not an earlier loan is still running. Both are framed as opinion, not as measures the government has adopted.
A broader point runs through the column as well. Taxing property while leaving shares and businesses alone, the deputy editor contends, would mostly change the form in which wealthy households keep their assets and would do little about inequality itself. For upgrading families, the question the piece raises is narrower: whether any change in the rules would bring larger layouts back into circulation.
Market activity in the period covered gives the discussion some scale: Stacked Homes counted 538 private home sales between 28 September and 4 October 2026, comprising 401 new sales, 5 sub-sales and 132 resales.
Lentor Signature is a planned private condominium on the Lentor Central Government Land Sales site in the Lentor Hills estate, District 26, held on a 99-year lease. The developer, Lentor Central 2026 Pte. Ltd., is a joint venture of GuocoLand (Singapore), Intrepid Investments and TID Residential, and its stated intention is about 553 homes across three towers of 26, 26 and 27 storeys, designed for BCA Green Mark Platinum (Super Low Energy). Lentor MRT on the Thomson-East Coast Line lies about 400 m away in a straight line, with further distances on the location page.
Preview registration is open, and the Sales Concierge sends the e-brochure and floor plans to registrants as the developer releases them.
Source: Stacked Homes (opinion piece, 12 October 2026).
General information only, not financial or legal advice.
Source: Stacked Homes. This article is independent commentary; Lentor Signature is not affiliated with the parties mentioned.
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