[8] In an interview in 2011, Lee Kuan Yew expressed that he wanted his house demolished after his death or kept as a closed residence for his family and descendants.

[10] Documents released by the Prime Minister's Office, Ho Ching, wife of Lee Hsien Loong, emailed the family in early 2012 with detailed plans about how the house would be renovated.

In documents shown by the siblings, Lee Kuan Yew initialed directly beneath the demolition clause and personally drafted an additional codicil to his will in January 2014, which they claim was witnessed by his secretary and bodyguard.

[14][15] Instead, he raised the issue to Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean about doubts on drafting of the last will on 23 April 2015.

Lee Hsien Loong sold the house to his brother under those terms and revealed later that he had donated 100% of his own proceeds to charity.

As part of the agreement in 2015, Lee Hsien Loong was said to have endorsed the demolition clause in the final will and promised to recuse himself from all government decisions on the house.

On 14 June 2017, Lee Hsien Loong's siblings made a public statement on Facebook, alleging that he had abused his office as prime minister to prevent the demolition and that he wished to move into the house to inherit the political capital of his father.

[20] They also alleged that various organs of state such as the National Heritage Board (NHB), Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the ministerial committee have been involved in the private dispute.

[28][29] A special two-day parliamentary session was called by Lee Hsien Loong to explain his involvement in the saga, and ministers defended their positions in the feud.

[30][31] While past politicians have always used litigation to counter any allegations of nepotism, Lee Hsien Loong claimed that he did not want to sue his siblings, leading some to question if the "government is arbitrary when it comes to dealing with serious criticism".

[32][33] The younger siblings offered a truce, saying they would stop posting attacks on social media and work to resolve the matter privately with their eldest brother.

[36] On 2 April 2018, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, chairman of the four-member ministerial committee, said that the panel did not make any recommendations as no decision is required at this point, since Lee Wei Ling is still living in the house.

The panel offered three options—to gazette and preserve 38 Oxley Road as a national monument, to demolish all but the dining room (which was a meeting area for the founding members of the People's Action Party) and convert the dining area to a viewing gallery or integrate it to a research or heritage centre, or to demolish and redevelop 38 Oxley Road completely for residential or state uses.

[44] In 2019, Hsien Loong sent a defamation letter to The Online Citizen's editor, Terry Xu on an article which repeated claims that he had tried to preserve the house contrary to his father's wishes, which was proven false.