The announcement marks the latest development in a saga that has unfolded since Mr Lee’s death on Mar 23, 2015.
The property was his home from 1950 until his death, and where his three children – Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the late Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang – grew up.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew had on several occasions publicly expressed his wish for the house to be demolished after his death. In an October 2010 letter to the Cabinet, he stated it should “not be kept as a kind of relic for people to tramp through” and that it has “no merit as architecture”.
He reiterated his stance in a July 2011 letter to the Cabinet, but faced opposition from ministers.
In December 2011, Mr Lee wrote that he had reflected on the matter after the Cabinet unanimously opposed demolition, and decided that if the property were to be preserved, it should have its foundations reinforced and be refurbished and let out for people to live in, as an empty building would “soon decline and decay”.
