Buying an HDB Resale Flat
Eligibility Criteria
In order to be eligible to sell your HDB Flat, you must first fulfil some conditions:
1) Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) of 5 years:
- Log in to My HDBPage (Singpass required) and check if you have completed the MOP
2) Ownership of only 1 HDB Flat:
- You can only own one HDB flat at a time and will need to sell your current flat before buying another HDB flat.
Note: If you are selling your old home before buying the new one, work out your moving plans and decide if you need temporary extension of stay.
To see what other eligibility conditions you will need to satisfy, click here.
Budgeting for Your Next Home
Your sales proceeds should be first used to:
- Pay your outstanding housing loan
- Return CPF monies used to pay for your current flat, including the interest that you could have earned if kept in the CPF Ordinary Account
- Return any HDB Housing Grant you previously obtained, with 2.5% accrued interest
- Pay any other additional costs and fees (e.g. legal fees, property tax) which could cost you close to S$3000
See also: HDB Sales Proceeds Calculator
Based on the estimated sales proceeds, you can work out your budget for your next home.
Estimate how much CPF you can use to buy your next home so you do not use up your CPF savings for your home.
Sale Process and Timeline
Click on any one of the icon to find out more.
All about OTP
Seller have to plan
their next housing
arrangement and work
out the estimated sale
proceed of their
current flat and a
financial plan if they
are buying another
HDB flat (new/resale/DBSS).
Buyer will apply for the valuation the next day after receiving the OTP
Submitting a resale application.
You are required to endorse the documents through the HDB Resale Portal and pay the necessary fees online. An in-principle approval for the resale application will be granted once the documents are endorsed and necessary fees paid. An appointment will then be scheduled for buyers and sellers to attend to complete the resale transaction.
Click here for more details
Steps involved
To sell your flat, you must first register your Intent to Sell.
Upon registering, HDB will instantaneously confirm your eligibility to sell and provide you with the following information:
- Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) / Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) Quota for the flat
- Status of upgrading, Billing status of upgrading costs
- Recent transacted prices of flats nearby
Consider the costs & fees involved (e.g. resale levy, stamp duty, property tax) when deciding your selling price.
Use this online Stamp Duty Calculator from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore website to calculate the stamp duty payable for your flat.
To enter into an OTP contract, you need to:
- Negotiate and agree on selling price
- You grant the OTP to Buyer via HDB Resale Portal and indicate the agreed Option Fee (between $1 and $1000).
- Buyers to exercise OTP to proceed with the purchase or they can let the OTP expire after 21 calendar days should they decide not proceed with the purchase.
- Decide when to submit resale application
You will require these documents on hand:
- Option-To-Purchase (OTP) contract details
- Seller Particulars
- Buyer Particulars
- Existing loans with HDB / Financial Institutions
- Declarations of Purchase
Either you or the buyer can be the first to submit, but the other party must submit within 7 calendar days. Seek your buyer’s agreement and indicate your request for temporary extension of stay when you submit your resale application.
You will need to endorse the documents and pay necessary fees online before your resale application can be approved.
You can check your resale application status or get notified via SMS once HDB uploads the approval letter on the resale portal.
You will need to rectify any unauthorised renovation works and vacate the flat before the Resale Appointment so that the buyer can take possession of the resale flat after.
Apply for Temporary Extension of Stay if you are unable to vacate in time.
Note: this step can take about 8 weeks from here to the final step of completing the resale transaction.
Once HDB has scheduled your appointment, you will also receive SMS notification on your appointment with HDB.
This is the only resale appointment at HDB you and the seller need to attend.
At this appointment, you (and the seller) will:
- Sign the sales agreement (if you are taking an HDB housing loan)
- Hand over the keys to the buyer
- Agree on the payment arrangement of the outstanding property tax with the buyer