Sale of HDB flats

Study notes

The largest Paper 2 block: public housing. Buying and selling HDB flats runs on an eligibility-and-scheme framework — citizenship, income ceilings, family nucleus, minimum occupation periods — that has no private-market equivalent.

What you must know

• Buyers of new (BTO) flats must meet eligibility: citizenship or residency status, family nucleus or singles scheme (singles from 35), and income ceilings.
• The minimum occupation period (commonly 5 years) must pass before a flat can be sold on the resale market or sublet in full.
• Resale buyers face the Ethnic Integration Policy (and SPR quota), which caps ethnic-group representation at block and neighbourhood level.
• CPF housing grants (family, proximity and similar) subsidise eligible buyers — grants have their own eligibility layers.
• Financing runs through the HDB housing loan or a bank loan; the HFE (HDB Flat Eligibility) letter consolidates eligibility, grant and loan assessment upfront.
• A resale levy is payable when a subsidised flat owner buys a second subsidised flat.
• Resale transactions run through the HDB resale checklist and portal — registration of intent, option, then HDB’s approval to complete.
• Sellers must discharge the outstanding loan and account for CPF used (including the CPF refund with accrued interest) at completion.