TEMPORARY MEASURE
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the construction of new Build-to-Order (BTO) flats was affected.
At the same time, housing demand increased as societal trends shifted towards smaller household sizes. A low interest rate environment made it cheaper to service a housing loan, Mr Chee said.
These factors led to an “imbalance in supply and demand” that caused resale prices to rise.
HDB increased the supply of BTO flats, but supply took time to increase as the construction industry was still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government introduced several property cooling measures during the pandemic, including the 15-month wait-out period in September 2022.
The move was to moderate the demand for HDB resale flats and help prioritise access to HDB flats for Singaporeans with more urgent housing needs, such as first-time homebuyers. Authorities said then that it would be a temporary measure.
Singaporeans aged 55 and above were exempted from the 15-month wait-out period if they moved from their private property to a four-room or smaller non-subsidised HDB resale flat.
Since its introduction in 2022, HDB has processed about 1,800 appeals annually from private property owners to waive the 15-month wait-out period.
This number has been “stable” over the last few years, with HDB acceding to about one in four appeals, the ministry said in a written parliamentary reply last year. This is mainly for households in financial difficulties or extenuating circumstances, who have no alternative housing options.
MND said on Tuesday that for those with pending appeals, they no longer needed to wait for HDB’s reply and can proceed to apply for an HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter directly. HDB will also be contacting these appellants directly.
Private property owners will be required to sell their units – whether in Singapore or overseas – within six months from the completion of the HDB resale flat purchase.
For private property owners who wish to buy a subsided HDB flat – a BTO flat with or without grants, or a resale flat with housing grants – or an executive condominium (EC) unit from a property developer, they will still need to wait for 30 months after the sale of their unit.
This will also apply to those who intend to get an HDB loan for their flat purchase.
Those who want to buy an HDB flat will have to get an HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter. For those with HFE applications that are being processed, HDB will automatically update their eligibility status, and no action is required.
On Tuesday, Mr Chee reiterated that the government is looking to lower the eligibility age of 35 for singles to buy HDB flats.