New HDB Resale Procedure to be implemented from Jan 1, 2018

HDB Resale Transaction Time To Be Halved to 8 weeks from 2018

HDB Resale Procedure and Timeline For Buyers

The new Resale Procedure will start from 01/01/2018

Old HDB Resale Procedure

- About 14 to 16 weeks to complete

- 2 HDB appointments

- Valuation Report charges $156.45 for reports for one-room and two-room flats, or $226 for three-room and larger flats.

New HDB Resale Procedure

- About 8 weeks to complete

- 1 HDB appointments

- Valuation Report charges $120.

SINGAPORE - From 2018, it will be faster for buyers and sellers of HDB resale flats to complete the transaction process.

The Housing Board is upgrading its resale portal to make it easier to file applications and conduct eligibility checks, it said in a statement on Thursday (Oct 19).

As a result, only one appointment with the HDB - instead of two - will be required.

Currently, the first appointment is used to work out the sellers' sales proceeds and assess buyers' financial plans.

But this will be done away with, as all financial statements will be uploaded and verified online. Only the second appointment to sign the legal documents will be required. The entire transaction time will be shortened by up to eight weeks, from 16 weeks now.

The change, which was promised during March's debate on the National Development Ministry's budget, will kick in on Jan 1, 2018.

The new portal aims to be a one-stop service that takes buyers and sellers through the resale process from start to finish.

For example, instead of looking up multiple e-services spread across the HDB website, all eligibility checks will be available on one page. Buyers and Sellers can check if they are eligible for housing loans and grants, or whether they are sihtin ethnic quotaas imposed on a flat or neighbourhood. 

The updated portal will also minimise the need for buyers and sellers to manually key in their data, as it will pull in common information used by goverment services, such as names IC numbers and addresses, for the relevant forms.

Another change is that buyers will soon get the HDB to conform the vlaue of a potential flat directly, instead of getting a report throught a panel of aluers. This will cost $120 for all flats types, insted of $156.45 for reports for one-room and two-room flats, or $226 for three-room and larger flats.

Said an HDB spokesman:"By harnessing technology and transaction data to establish the reasonableness of a transacted price, some cases may not reequire a valuation. This will help expedite the processing of resale transactions. Nevertheless, where a valuation is assessed to be nedded, it will still be done."

Flat buyers and sellers will have to use a new Option To Purchase form - a legal document that gives a buyer the exclusive right to buy a flat - when the changes take effect. The current form is valid till Dec 31.

In a blog post on Thursday, ational Development Minister Lawrence Wong said the new platform was one of the initiative under the Reat Estate Industry Transformation Map and "part of our move thoward being a smart nation"

He added that the HDB will set up a dedicated helpline and help desk at the HDB HUub in Toa Payoh to guide those who require assistance.

Civil servant Rachel Samuil, 32, who hopes that her husband can sell their four-room Jurong flat to move to a bigger one, was among those who welcomed the shorter process.

"We have had some difficulty engaging the right buyer since it was put up for sale in May, but a shorter resale process means we will get to move to our new space as soon as it is sold," she said.

Published by THE STRAITS TIME on OCT 19, 2017
By Rachel Au-Yong