Intent to Sell

To start your journey of selling your flat, you will need to register an Intent to Sell by logging in to My Flat Dashboard using your Singpass.

Purpose of registering an Intent to Sell

The Intent to Sell allows you to check your eligibility to sell your flat. Upon registering an Intent to Sell, you will be informed of when you may start to grant an Option to Purchase (OTP) to potential flat buyers, which must be at least 7 days after registering the Intent to Sell.

You will be prompted to download a copy of the OTP and compute your estimated net proceeds as well as receive information about Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) and Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) Quota for your block, status of upgrading, billing of upgrading costs, and recent transacted prices of nearby flats. You will also be reminded to plan your next housing. There is no fee payable for registering an Intent to Sell.

Your Intent to Sell is valid for 12 months. It must be valid when you grant the OTP to the buyer(s) and when you submit the resale application.
Sellers to register an Intent to Sell

You must register an Intent to Sell personally, regardless of whether you have engaged a salesperson. If there is more than one owner for your flat, only one of you need to register on behalf of all the flat owners.

If there are any personal matters that may affect the flat ownership, such as divorce or estate issues, it is advisable that you settle these matters before you register the Intent to Sell.

Important notes:

  • The results generated from the Intent to Sell are based on information you have provided. It is only an indication of your eligibility and does not constitute an approval by HDB to sell your flat. This will be determined after we receive your resale application.
  • You must provide accurate information when you register an Intent to Sell and cannot change the information provided throughout your flat selling journey. If you need to make changes, you have to cancel your Intent to Sell and register a new one. Otherwise, you will not be able to proceed to the subsequent steps and your resale application may be rejected.

Planning the sale of your flat

Read our following guides on planning the sale of your flat after you have registered an Intent to Sell:

Resale Flat Listing (RFL) service

Flat sellers with a valid Intent to Sell can list and market their flat with the RFL service on the HDB Flat Portal.

Listing your flat on the HDB Flat Portal is simple and streamlined. Here are some features of the RFL service.

Features Description
Auto-population of key flat details using HDB’s data

The following flat details are auto-populated:

  • Flat address
  • Flat type
  • Floor area
  • Original floor plan
  • Remaining lease

You only need to upload photos and descriptions of your flat for marketing purpose. If you have engaged a salesperson, you may appoint him/ her on the HDB Flat Portal to do so on your behalf.

Important note:

You are responsible for the accuracy of the information provided in your flat listing. Should there be any feedback on inaccuracies in your listing, HDB will look into the matter and take the necessary actions, including but not limited to removing the listing and restricting your future use of the HDB Flat Portal.
Guide to set selling price

During listing creation, you will be shown recent transacted prices of the same flat type nearby to guide you in setting the listing price.
Create viewing appointments

Create viewing appointments within your flat listing. You must include your contact information, such as your email address and/ or mobile number, for potential flat buyers and their salespersons to contact you.
Prospective flat buyers

Only prospective flat buyers with a valid HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter can obtain your contact details and/ or schedule viewing appointments via the RFL service.

Each seller can only post one flat listing to ensure that there is no duplicative listing for the same flat.

To better understand the steps on how to use the RFL service, you may view our user guide or watch the instructional video below.

Compute your estimated sale proceeds

Understand how your net proceeds will be computed.

Financial planning is important, especially if you need to buy your next home after selling your current flat.

Calculate the estimated net proceeds you may receive. The information will be useful when you budget for your next housing purchase.

Computation of sale proceeds

You have to settle all outstanding payments when you sell your flat. The sale proceeds from selling your flat is the resale price of the flat, less the following:

  • Outstanding housing loan
  • Return of CPF savings used with accrued interest to your CPF account
  • Cash deposit received from your flat buyer (up to $5,000)
  • Any other amounts payable, e.g. resale levy, upgrading costs, etc.

Outstanding housing loan

The outstanding housing loan refers to the loan amount that has not been fully paid yet. The outstanding housing loan will be deducted from the resale price, if sufficient.

If the resale price is insufficient to settle the outstanding housing loan, you must pay for the balance in cash.

To find out your outstanding housing loan amount, you can:

  • Check My HDBPage (‘My Flat > Purchased Flat > Financial Info’), for housing loans from HDB
  • Approach your lending financial institution (FI), for housing loans from FIs

CPF savings used

Any CPF savings used for the purchase of your existing flat, either as downpayment or for the monthly instalments, are to be returned with accrued interest to your CPF account when you sell your flat.

The amount to be returned to your CPF account will be deducted from the resale price. If there is a shortfall in the CPF refund, the cash deposit that you have received from the buyers will be used to settle the shortfall.

To find out the amount of CPF to be refunded to your CPF account upon the sale of your flat, you may log in to the CPF Website (Select ‘my cpf’ > ‘My dashboards’ > ‘Home ownership’ > ‘Principal amount and accrued interest’).

If you are undergoing divorce, visit CPF Board’s website to learn how CPF-related assets, such as CPF savings used for the purchase of the existing flat, are divided as part of the divorce.

Resale levy

A resale levy is payable in cash when you buy a second subsidised flat or an Executive Condominium unit from a property developer.

You will be informed if you are required to pay a resale levy when you register your Intent to Sell. If you have to pay a resale levy, you may want to set aside the levy amount from the sale proceeds you receive.

Upgrading costs

You are required to pay for the upgrading cost if you are the flat owner when the bill for the upgrading cost is issued. The upgrading cost can be paid using:

  • Cash
  • CPF savings[1]
  • Cash proceeds from the sale of flat, if sufficient

[1] This mode of payment will not be available if you have submitted an application to sell the flat.

Read more on the details you will need to know about paying your upgrading cost.

You can view the status of upgrading and the billing status for the upgrading costs of your flat when you register your Intent to Sell. Alternatively, you may check the status of the upgrading programme.

Learn more about payment of upgrading cost and billing:

Upgrading levy

If your existing flat is in an upgraded precinct, you may have to pay an upgrading levy when you sell the flat. The 10% upgrading levy is calculated based on the selling price of the flat, or 90% of the market value of the flat, whichever is higher.

Who needs to pay the Upgrading Levy?

  • Singapore Citizen (SC) households who have benefitted from the Main Upgrading Programme (MUP) (discontinued from August 2007) 2 times or more
  • Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) households whose flats were upgraded under MUP (Batch 6 and before)

Who need not pay the Upgrading Levy?

  • SC owners who sell their second or subsequent MUP flat (Batch 7 onwards)
  • SPR owners who sell their MUP flat (Batch 7 onwards)

Plan for your next housing

Some considerations you should include in planning for your next housing before you commit to sell your flat.

Please plan your next housing, before putting your current flat on the market for sale. Otherwise, your family may be left without a home. Do consider the following:

  • Housing options that can meet your budget and needs
  • Financial considerations

If you require more time to move out of your flat, you may arrange for a temporary extension of stay, subject to your flat buyers’ agreement. Otherwise, please defer your plan to sell your flat until you have secured your next housing.

Housing options

Here are some options that you may consider your next flat purchase:

New flat from HDB or resale flat on the open market

Start your home buying journey by applying for an HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter via My Flat Dashboard for a holistic understanding of your housing and financing options.

The HFE letter will inform you upfront of your eligibility to buy a new or resale flat, as well as the amounts of CPF housing grants and HDB housing loan you are eligible for.

Apply for an HFE letter early, taking into account the processing time required by HDB after receipt of your HFE letter application and all the required information.

Buying a new flat Buying a resale flat

You must have a valid HFE letter when you apply for a flat in our sales exercises.

Apply for an HFE letter at least 1 month ahead of the sales exercise.

You must have a valid HFE letter before you obtain an Option to Purchase (OTP) from a flat seller, and when you submit your resale application to HDB.

After obtaining an HFE letter, you may look for a suitable flat that meets your budget and needs.

Read our guide on finding a flat to help you plan and prepare for your flat purchase.
From property developers You may be able to buy an Executive Condominiums (EC) unit, which offers design and facilities similar to those in private condominium developments. Learn more about the eligibility conditions to buy an EC unit, buying procedure and EC projects on offer.

Financial considerations

Financial planning is important and should be done before commencing your next housing purchase. If you intend to buy an HDB flat, you should consider:

Financing planning for flat purchase Work out your sums with our ABCs of financial planning – Ability to Pay, Budget for Flat, and Credit to Finance a Flat Purchase, and tap on our financial tools such as our budget calculator.
Requirements for taking a second HDB housing loan If you are taking a second HDB housing loan, the loan amount will be reduced using the CPF refund and up to 50% of the cash proceeds from the sale of your flat.
Eligibility for Enhanced Contra Facility If you intend to buy a resale flat using the cash proceeds and CPF refund from the disposal of your current flat, you may be able to apply for the Enhanced Contra Facility to reduce your cash outlay.

Managing the Sale of Your Flat

You may either manage the sale on your own or engage the services of a salesperson for a fee.

If you are managing the sale on your own, read our guide on preparations for selling your flat, such as considering your next housing, setting and negotiating the selling price, and advertising your flat. The guide also includes practical tips on engaging a salesperson, if you decide to do so.

If you are engaging a salesperson, check his/her phone number with the CEA Public Register to verify his/ her identity and ensure that he/ she is a registered salesperson, and safeguard yourself against scammers.