Singapore Public Housing has been built and managed by the Government’s Housing Development Board (HDB) since its independence. It has always recorded high transaction volumes on its open or resale market every month. If you are an HDB resident or owner planning to sell your apartment on the open market, the first step is to understand and comply with HDB’s rules on eligibility to sell. That is, you must ensure that you have met the eligibility criteria to do so, that is, have met the Minimum Occupancy Period (MOP).
The minimum physical occupation time of the owner of the HDB on the floor is known as MOP. Periods of non-occupancy of the current or replacement dwelling (SERS), such as the authorized subletting of the entire dwelling or any violation of the dwelling lease, are excluded. For example, if you have rented our entire apartment for 1 year, the 1-year period will not be included in the MOP calculation. The MOP is highly dependent on the mode of purchase and the type of flooring you last purchased.
There is no MOP for owners of 1-bedroom or HUDC apartment-style apartments. In other words, if you have purchased a 1-bedroom HDB or HUDC apartment, you can sell it at any time to another eligible buyer on the HDB or HUDC resale market.
If you have purchased apartments directly from HDB or have purchased a resale apartment from HDB under the Central Provisioning Fund (CPF) Housing Subsidy Plan, the MOP will be 5 years from the effective date of the purchase. The rationale is that such mode of purchase is substantially subsidized by the Government, thus a longer period of housing is required to meet the basic housing needs of eligible Singapore citizens or permanent resident buyers.
If your apartment was previously purchased under SERS replacement apartment with portable SERS rehousing benefits, the MOP will be 5 years from the effective date of purchase of the replacement apartment. However, if your current apartment is selected for the SERS replacement apartment and you elect to elect the new replacement under SERS rehousing benefits, the MOP will be 5 years from the effective date of purchase of the replacement apartment. 7 years from the date of selection of the replacement floor, provided they have taken possession of the replacement floor, whichever occurs first.
For HDB resale flats purchased on the open market without using the CPF Housing Subsidy Scheme, there was a review this year. Prior to March 5, 2010, when HDB received the resale application, the MOP is 2 1/2 years from the effective date of the resale if the HDB loan was taken, or only 1 year from the date of resale. the effective date of the resale if the HDB loan was not taken. The 1-year MOP also applies to cases where a mortgage loan was taken from the bank to finance the purchase, or simply the cash purchase without any loan. After March 5, 2010, the MOP is standard 3 years from the effective date of the resale, regardless of whether you take an HDB loan, bank home loan, or cash purchase.
This latest HDB resale ruling to increase the MOP to 3 years was implemented in order to cool the rapidly rising price in the HDB resale market since Q2 2009 as the previous MOP may attract unwanted buyers to speculate on the open public housing market within the 1-2 1/2 year period, which can potentially drive resale prices higher without actual support from public housing demand. The objective is to reinforce property occupation and curb possible speculation or short-term profit.
You can check from the HDB website to further determine your eligibility. Access E-Services, ‘Sell your Apartment’, and check “Request for Confirmation of Eligibility to Sell your HDB Apartment”. The online application form allows you to verify the Computation of your Period of Occupancy for the Purpose of Resale. Simply fill in your personal information, flat purchase details and send, HDB will reply if you have complied with the MOP.
In short, HDB apartment owners or occupants can only sell their apartments on the open market to eligible buyers of their own choosing if their eligibility is verified. You can consult a trusted real estate agent for more advice on selling your home if you are eligible to sell. A professional estate agent should provide you with the latest government rulings, HDBs and CPFs and transparent information such as recent transactions and current market trends to help you stay well informed and be able to sell your HDB resale apartment more effectively.