Other Miscellaneous Questions here.

Stamp duty
Stamp duty is a tax on dutiable documents relating to any immovable property (“property”) in Singapore and any stock or shares. Here are some stamp duty types related to property purchase:

Buyer’s Stamp Duty
You are required to pay Buyers’ Stamp Duty (BSD) after signing the S&P.

Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty
You may also need to pay Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty after signing the S&P depending on your profile:
1. Whether you are buying as an individual or as an entity
2. Your residency status e.g. Singaporean
3. Number of residential properties owned

Seller’s Stamp Duty
You may need to pay a Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) if you sell or dispose of the property
within 4 years of acquisition (for property purchased between 14 Jan 2011 and 10 Mar
2017, both dates inclusive) or within 3 years of acquisition (for property purchase on
or after 11 Mar 2017).

Learn more about stamp duty on IRAS’ website.

What if I am an undischarged bankrupt?

Prior consent must be obtained from the Official Assignee (OA) or the private trustee, if you are applying to buy an HDB flat that is bigger than a 5-room flat or a 3Gen-flat. From 1 February 2016 onwards, prior consent is also required to buy any flat type with a net purchase price of $500,000 or above, after taking into account any HDB subsidies or levy.

You do not need to seek prior consent from the OA or the private trustee to be listed as an occupier of a flat.

Disputes
In the event of a dispute, you should initiate discussions with the developer to resolve the differences. You may consider seeking legal advice on your rights under the S&PA and the appropriate course of action to take should the need arise.

You are strongly encouraged to consider resolving any dispute through direct negotiation, failing which, to consider mediation. In mediation, an impartial third party, a mediator, will help you and the developer to negotiate an amicable settlement of the differences. The mediator is not a judge and will not decide on who is right. Rather, the mediator helps both parties reach a binding agreement by focusing on problem-solving. Mediation is likely to be less costly than litigation or arbitration and may help to resolve disputes more quickly.

The Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) offers mediation services to help disputing parties resolve their dispute. For claims of less than $60,000, the parties could subscribe to the Small Case Commercial Mediation Scheme. For claims exceeding $60,000, the parties could subscribe to the Commercial Mediation Scheme. SMC also offers a Neutral Evaluation service, in which an unbiased third party such as a former Judge or Senior Counsel – the Neutral – hears your case either through written submissions and/or oral presentations. They consider the legal merits of your case and give you their reasoned opinion. This allows contending parties to better understand their strengths and weaknesses of their case. More information on the services offered by SMC is available at their website.

Mediation services are also available at:

• Law Society of Singapore (Law Society Mediation Scheme)
• REDAS Conciliation Panel which deals with disputes between purchasers and developers who are members of the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore
• SISV Dispute Resolution Centre

HDB flats, including non-subsidised HDB flats, are for long term owner-occupation and for those who cannot afford private property ownership within the next five years. Private property owners should therefore not compete with HDB home buyers.

The policy changes were made to differentiate genuine home buyers who plan to occupy their home for the long term, from those who intend to buy non-subsidised HDB flats for short term investment. At the same time, private property owners who need to downgrade their homes to HDB flats are not deprived of the opportunity to do so, if they dispose their private property within six months of the flat purchase.

The policy change which prohibits concurrent ownership of HDB flat and private property is to discourage families with the means to own private housing, regardless of the location of such a housing, from competing with the others who are in greater need for public housing. It is also to ensure equitable treatment for all HDB flat owners during their minimum occupation period (MOP). Ownership of private properties by HDB flat owners are allowed after the MOP.

Yes. However, you have to sell your flat or relinquish your share (if you are a joint-owner) within 6 months from the date you take possession of the resale flat.

Each eligible person/ household can only be listed in 1 HDB flat. You must be withdraw your name from the existing HDB flat if you buy another flat.

Yes. If you are a private property owner, you can still buy a resale flat. You will have to dispose of the private property ownership within six months from the resale completion date. However, you will not be eligible for the CPF Housing Grant and HDB concessionary loan.