Selling HDB Flat

To begin the process of selling your flat, it is necessary to register an Intent to Sell by accessing the HDB Flat Portal with your Singpass.

• Registering an Intent to Sell can verify whether you can sell your flat.
• This will enable you to offer prospective buyers an Option to Purchase (OTP) at the appropriate time.
• You will be provided with details regarding the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) and Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) Quota for your block, upgrading status, upgrading cost billing, and recent transaction prices of nearby flats.
• This intent will remain valid for a year and must be active when granting the OTP to potential buyers and submitting the resale application.
• Before granting the OTP to the buyers, you must wait for a cooling-off period of 7 days.

There are various eligibility conditions under which you can sell your HDB flat:

• HDB MOP
  • HDB flat owners may only sell their flat if they have met the HDB Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) requirement.
  • It helps reduce speculative activities.
  • The HDB MOP length is five years from the date the HDB flat owner collects the keys.
    • It excludes any period that the flat owners not occupying the flat, such as they rent out the whole unit or when there is any infringement of the flat lease.
• HDB EIP And SPR Quota
  • You have to meet the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) and Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) Quota for your block/neighbourhood.
  • The EIP ensures a balanced ethnic mix in HDB estates, thereby promoting racial integration and harmony.
  • The SPR Quota ensures that SPR families can better integrate into the local community. This quota limit will exclude Malaysian SPRs because of their close cultural and historical similarities with Singaporeans.
  • There is no restriction on the sale and purchase of an HDB flat if:
    • The proportion of the buyer’s ethnic group/ SPR quota is within the prescribed block/neighbourhood limits.
    • You and the buyer are of the same ethnic group or citizenship type.
• Bankruptcy
  • Under the Housing and Development Act, as long as there is one Singapore Citizen HDB flat owner, you will not be forced to sell your HDB flat in the event of bankruptcy.
  • You do not need the Official Assignee (OA)’s consent to sell your HDB flat (before you grant your prospective buyer an Option to Purchase.) if there is one Singapore Citizen HDB flat owner.
  • If you finance your HDB flat with a mortgage loan and you cannot repay your mortgage to the bank or HDB, the bank can seize and sell your house through a mortgagee sale. HDB can also acquire your home compulsorily.
• Divorce
  • If you go through a divorce after meeting the MOP, you can sell the HDB flat, provided you meet all other eligibility conditions.
  • You need to produce the following documents:
    • Writ for Judicial Separation (previously known as Deed of Separation); or
    • Interim Judgment (previously known as Decree Nisi); and
    • Certificate of Making Interim Judgment Final (previously known as Certificate of Making the Decree Nisi Absolute); or
    • Divorce Certificate (for Muslims); and
    • Order of Court (if any).
  • Suppose documents are not in any of the four official languages. It requires an official English translation of these documents by an interpreter of the Supreme Court or Subordinate Courts.

The Housing & Development Board will determine the actual approval to sell the HDB resale flat only after the HDB sellers have submitted the application and all the necessary supporting documents.

When it comes to selling your HDB flat, you will need to carefully manage your proceeds from sales and plan for your next home. Following are some of the financial considerations for selling your HDB flat:

• Costs and Fees for Selling HDB Flat
  • An administrative fee for the resale application submission.
  • Legal fees – it depends on the solicitor you appoint to act for you.
  • Seller’s Stamp Duty – Most HDB flat owners will only sell their HDB flats after meeting the minimum occupation period. Therefore, they would not have to pay the Seller’s Stamp Duty. However, those who have become the flat owners by way of transfer may be affected by it.
  • Property Tax – You require to pay your flat’s property tax up to the end of the year. You need to submit the official tax payment receipt to HDB at your flat sale completion appointment.
  • Service and Conservancy Charges – You need to pay the service and conservancy charges until the completion appointment date. You need to submit the receipt for this payment to HDB at your flat sale completion appointment.
  • Upgrading Costs – The flat owner needs to pay the upgrading costs as the bill’s date is issued. You need to pay the fee for any upgrading programme works at your flat/block if the invoice’s billing date is earlier than your flat sale completion appointment.
• HDB Sales Proceed
  • To get a better estimate of the cash proceeds from your HDB flat sale, you need the following details:
    • Estimated resale price
    • Outstanding mortgage loan
    • CPF monies utilised with accrued interest
    • Any other outstanding payments due to HDB
    • Earlier-received deposit (up to $5,000; from option fee and deposit)

How to go about selling your HDB flat? To sell your HDB flat, you can either engage a salesperson to assist you or manage the transaction yourself.

It is essential to assess your current financial status, the financial matters relating to your HDB flat, be sure to plan for your next home, as well as understanding the whole selling process.

From planning your finances, marketing your house, looking for your next home, negotiating for the buying/selling price, attend HDB appointment, the extension of stay until you move into your new home… Many unexpected factors will impact your selling experience. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the whole process.

Before you commit to selling your HDB flat, make sure you have enough time to make the necessary preparations.

If you intend to sell your existing HDB, and you have previously bought it from HDB or taken a CPF Housing Grant, you need to take note of you will have to pay a resale levy when you next buy a flat from HDB.

• The HDB resale levy is meant to reduce the subsidy on the second subsidised flat to maintain a fair allocation of public housing subsidies between first- and second-timer citizen families.
• You need to pay a resale levy if:
  • You sell your first subsidised flat after meeting the HDB Minimum Occupation Period and then buy a second subsidised flat from HDB or take over ownership of a subsidised HDB flat.
  • You sell your first subsidised flat after meeting the HDB Minimum Occupation Period and then buy an Executive Condo (EC) from a developer where the land sale was launched on or after 9 Dec 2013.
• You need not pay a resale levy if:
  • You are buying a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flat from a developer.
  • You are buying an Executive Condo (EC) from a developer where land sale was launched before 9 Dec 2013.
  • You are buying a resale HDB flat from the open market.
  • You are buying a private residential property.
• The revised resale levy policy will apply to second-timer applicants who:
  • Book their second subsidised flat from HDB on or after 03 Mar 2006, and
  • Submit their resale application to sell their first subsidised flat on or after 03 Mar 2006

• Previous Resale Levy
  • The following flat owners will come under the Previous Resale Levy Policy:
    • Booked a second subsidised flat or an Executive Condominium unit from the developer before 3 Mar 2006, or
    • Sold the first subsidised flat and opted for the deferred resale levy, or
    • Submitted a resale application to HDB before 3 March 2006 for the sale of their first subsidised flat.

*Only applicable to 2-room flat sellers that upgrade to a larger flat type.

The Enhanced Contra Facility (ECF) allows you to simultaneously sell your current HDB flat and purchase another resale HDB flat using the cash proceeds and refunded CPF savings.

• This reduces the out-of-pocket payments required for your resale flat purchase and the housing loan amount needed, resulting in lower monthly repayments.
• When engaging in resale transactions with ECF, all parties must complete and submit their resale applications and supporting documents within 7 days.
• Only the contra party need to declare his intention to apply for the ECF and furnish the details of the flats he is selling and purchasing.

Once the resale transaction is finalized, you must vacate the flat. However, suppose you have purchased another completed residential property in Singapore and require additional time to move out. In that case, you can discuss with the buyers to prolong your stay in the flat for a maximum of three months after completing the resale transaction.

• It is recommended that you and the buyers discuss the possibility of an extension while negotiating the sale of the flat if you intend to request one.
• The buyers must agree to the extension, and both parties must indicate in their respective sections of the resale application that a temporary extension of stay has been arranged.
• The extension of stay cannot be extended beyond three months and will end automatically at the end of this period.
• As the rightful owners of the HDB, buyers are responsible for covering all costs and expenses associated with its ownership from the day of resale completion. This includes the duration of the sellers’ extended stay.
  • The monthly housing loan instalment,
  • Service and conservancy charges (without rebates during the extension period)
  • Property tax (at non-owner-occupied rates during the extension period).
• Buyers, the future owners of the flat agreeing to the extension, must pay an administrative fee of $20 (inclusive of GST) for the request.