Sale of private properties

Study notes

CU4’s flagship: buying from developers (uncompleted or new) versus buying completed private property on resale — two very different rulebooks on protection, payment and defects.

What you must know

• Selling uncompleted private residential property requires a licensed developer under the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act and its rules.
• The booking fee and progress payments for uncompleted property are governed by the prescribed payment schedule, with buyer payments held in a project account.
• The developer grants an option; exercising it leads to the sale-and-purchase agreement on the prescribed form.
• A defects liability period (commonly about 12 months from vacant possession / TOP) lets the purchaser require defects to be rectified.
• Completed-property resale runs: search and due diligence → option (option fee, validity period) → exercise → completion weeks later, with title and caveats checked along the way.
• Title searches confirm ownership and encumbrances; caveats protect the buyer’s interest pending transfer.
• Executive condominiums begin under HDB-style rules and privatise after meeting their criteria — a hybrid the exam likes.