Eligibility

You must fulfil a set of eligibility conditions before you can sell your flat. Do note the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP), Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP), and Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) quota for your block/ neighbourhood. There are also additional requirements that may have to be met in the event of bankruptcy or divorce.

If you would like to check your eligibility to sell your flat, register your Intent to Sell through the HDB Resale Portal.

Minimum Occupation Period

The MOP is the period of time that you are required to physically occupy your flat before you can sell it on the open market.

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The MOP is calculated from the date you collect the keys to your flat. It excludes any period where you do not occupy the flat, such as when the whole flat is rented out or when there has been an infringement of the flat lease.

The MOP duration depends on the purchase mode, flat type, and date of flat application:

Purchase Mode			MOP
Flats purchased from HDB			5 years
Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flat bought from a developer			5 years
Flat bought under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) with portable SERS rehousing benefits			5 years
Flat bought under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS)			Either 7 years from the date of selection of the replacement flat; or 5 years from the date of occupation whichever is earlier
Resale flat bought from the open market with the CPF Housing Grant			5 years
Resale flat bought from the open market without the CPF Housing Grant	1-room flat		No MOP
	2-room flat or bigger	Application date on or after 30 August 2010	5 years
		Application date between 5 March to 29 August 2010	3 years
		Before 5 March 2010	2.5 years with an HDB loan and 1 year with bank loan/without any loan
Flats bought under the Fresh  Start Housing Scheme			20 years

How to find out if you have met the MOP

You can login to My HDBPage with your SingPass and check if you have met the MOP to sell your flat, under My Flat > Purchased Flat > Flat Details > Minimum Occupation Period (MOP).

Ethnic Integration Policy and Singapore Permanent Resident quota

You need to ensure that your flat sale is within the EIP and SPR quota for your block/ neighbourhood.

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Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP)

The EIP ensures a balanced ethnic mix in HDB estates, thereby helping to promote racial integration and harmony.

Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) quota

If you belong to a non-Malaysian SPR family (i.e. households with no Singapore Citizens (SCs) or Malaysian SPRs), you can sell a particular resale flat if the EIP and SPR quotas have not been reached. The SPR quota ensures that SPR families can better integrate into the local community. Malaysians are excluded from this quota because of their close cultural and historical similarities with Singaporeans. 

 

Citizenship	SPR Quota in Neighbourhoods	SPR Quota in Blocks
Non-Malaysian SPRs	5%	8%
Malaysian SPRs SCs	N/A	N/A

 

How the EIP and SPR quota work

You will not be able to sell a particular flat if the sale causes your block/ neighbourhood’s EIP and/ or SPR quota to exceed.

 

Buyer Household's Citizenship	Quota to Meet
SC household (At least 1 SC listed as buyer)	EIP
Malaysian SPR household (No SC listed as buyer and at least 1 Malaysian SPR listed as buyer)	EIP
Non-Malaysian SPR household (All buyers are non-Malaysian SPRs)	EIP and SPR

 

There is no restriction on the sale and purchase of an HDB flat if:

• The proportion of the buyer's ethnic group/ SPR quota is within the prescribed block/ neighbourhood limits
• The buyer and you are of the same ethnic group and/ or citizenship type

Eligibility enquiry service

The ethnic proportions and SPR quota are updated on the 1st of every month, and are applicable for resale applications submitted to us for that same month.

You can view the EIP/SPR quota of your flat after you have registered your Intent to Sell using the HDB Resale Portal. Alrernatively, buyers can check a buyer's eligibility to buy a flat under the EIP/SPR quota.

 

 

Additional Requirements

In cases of bankruptcy or divorce, additional requirements may have to be met before the flat can be sold off.

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Bankruptcy

Under the Housing and Development Act, as long as any of the HDB flat owners is a Singapore Citizen, the consent of the Official Assignee is not required in the event that the flat owners wish to sell the flat.

In cases where none of the flat owners are Singapore citizens, they will have to obtain the consent of the Official Assignee before they sell their flat.

Divorce

If you go through a divorce after meeting the MOP, you can sell the flat if all eligibility conditions are met.

You need to produce the following documents:

• Writ for Judicial Separation (previously known as Deed of Separation); or
• Interim Judgment (previously known as Decree Nisi) and Certificate of Making Interim Judgment Final (previously known as Decree Nisi Absolute); or
• Divorce Certificate (for Muslims); and
• Order of Court (if any).

An official English translation of these documents by an interpreter of the Supreme Court or Family Justice Courts is required if the documents are not in any of the 4 official languages.

Find out more on how to retain your flat after a divorce.

Important Note