Government gazettes 38 Oxley Road for acquisition following national monument status

The site at 38 Oxley Road has been gazetted for acquisition on 29 January 2026, according to a joint media release by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and the National Heritage Board (NHB).

The acquisition follows the site's gazetting as a national monument on 12 December 2025, in recognition of its historical significance in Singapore’s independence movement.

38 Oxley Road was the long-time residence of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. The house was said to have served as a meeting point for pivotal discussions that shaped the nation’s early governance.

In their joint statement, SLA and NHB stated, “The site was gazetted for acquisition today in order to safeguard and preserve it in keeping with its historic significance and national importance.”

With the acquisition, redevelopment of the site for residential, commercial, or other private uses is prohibited. Authorities explained that this ensures long-term protection of the property.

Following the acquisition, government agencies will assess the site’s structural condition. A detailed study will determine subsequent steps.

“All options, including those outlined by the 2018 Ministerial Committee, will be considered before a decision is made,” SLA and NHB said.

They reiterated the government’s commitment to respecting Lee Kuan Yew’s wish for privacy. Measures will include removing all traces of private family living spaces from the house interior.

“Under no circumstances will the interior of the house as Mr Lee knew it be displayed, recorded, remodelled or duplicated elsewhere,” the agencies affirmed.

SLA and NHB also stated they would work with the owner throughout the acquisition process.

Compensation will be determined under the Land Acquisition Act 1966, based on the property's market value as of the gazette date, and with reference to any submitted claims.

During a Ministerial Statement in Parliament on 6 November 2025, Acting Minister David Neo announced that a Notice of Intention had been issued on 3 November to the owner and occupier, stating the Government’s plan to preserve the site under the Preservation of Monuments Act.

Workers’ Party MP Gerald Giam Yean Song questioned whether an independent valuation would be conducted and whether the Government would release the full report for public transparency.

In response, David Neo confirmed that a professional private valuer would assist SLA in determining the property's market value, and that the process would be consistent with statutory provisions. If dissatisfied, owners may appeal to the Land Acquisition Appeals Board.

Lee Hsien Yang purchased the property from his brother, Lee Hsien Loong, then Prime Minister of Singapore, at 50 percent above market value as part of the estate agreement following their father’s death. The family property had been willed to Lee Hsien Loong, as Lee Kuan Yew was made to believe that it had already been gazetted and that his son, as Prime Minister, would be best placed to manage the situation.

In a joint statement issued on 4 December 2015, Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Hsien Yang, and Lee Wei Ling announced that the two brothers would each donate half the value of the house to eight charities named in Lee Kuan Yew’s obituary.

These beneficiaries included the Education Fund, NTUC-U Care Fund, Garden City Fund, and five self-help groups—Chinese Development Assistance Council, Mendaki, the Association of Muslim Professionals, Singapore Indian Development Association, and the Eurasian Association.

The statement expressed the siblings' hope that the Government would honour Lee Kuan Yew’s wish for the house to be demolished once Lee Wei Ling ceased living in it. Lee Hsien Loong, who is now Senior Minister, while recusing himself from Government decisions on the property, stated he personally supported this outcome.

Lee Kuan Yew had repeatedly conveyed his wish for demolition. In letters to the Cabinet in 2010 and 2011, he opposed preservation of the house, stating it had “no merit as architecture” and should not be turned into a relic.

Although he briefly entertained the idea of preservation under specific conditions in 2011, his final will, executed in 2013, reaffirmed his position. It called for demolition, or failing that, for the house to be closed to all except family members and descendants.

Disagreements between Lee Kuan Yew’s children regarding the fate of the house surfaced publicly after his death in March 2015. The matter culminated in a ministerial statement by Lee Hsien Loong in Parliament in 2017.

A Ministerial Committee, chaired by then Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, was subsequently convened. In April 2018, the committee released a report presenting three options: full preservation, partial preservation of the basement dining room, or demolition.

No recommendation was made at the time, as Lee Wei Ling continued to reside at the property.

After her passing in October 2025, a demolition application was submitted by Lee Hsien Yang to demolish the house at 38 Oxley Road and "thereafter to build a small private dwelling, to be held within the family in perpetuity". In the same month, NHB commenced a formal assessment of the site.

The Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board concluded that 38 Oxley Road possessed “strong national significance worthy of preservation as a national monument”. It was described as a site foundational to Singapore’s independence history, with no parallel among existing monuments.

Following the Government’s announcement of its intention to preserve and potentially acquire 38 Oxley Road, Lee Hsien Yang stated that “38 Oxley Road will be a monument to the PAP’s dishonour of Lee Kuan Yew.”

He reiterated that throughout his life, Lee Kuan Yew had been clear and unequivocal in his desire for his home at 38 Oxley Road to be demolished.

“He was against any monuments, and this was part of the values he upheld. As his son and his trustee, I object to the proposed gazetting of the property,” Lee Hsien Yang wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, which he publicly shared on Facebook on the morning of 17 November 2025.

In a separate Facebook post on 3 November 2025, Lee Hsien Yang criticised the preservation move, stating that the Government had “chosen to trample on Lee Kuan Yew’s unwavering wish to demolish his private house”.

He also pointed out that the Founders’ Memorial already stands as a “huge and expensive monument”, noting that his father had opposed such commemorative projects.

Correction: NLB was mistakenly mentioned in the post and has since been corrected to reflect the appropriate agency.