Selling Guide

Selling an HDB Flat: The Step-by-Step Process and What Comes Off Your Proceeds

Selling an HDB flat starts with a registration, not a listing. You check your eligibility with an Intent to Sell, grant an option to a buyer, then work through HDB's resale application to a completion appointment about eight weeks after HDB accepts it. Here is the sequence, and how your net proceeds are calculated.

Before you list: are you allowed to sell?

• Minimum Occupation Period (MOP). You must have physically lived in the flat for the MOP, counted from legal completion of your purchase. It excludes periods when the whole flat was rented out with HDB's approval. HDB lists 5 years for unclassified and Standard flats, 10 years for Plus and Prime flats, 5 years for DBSS flats and 20 years under the Fresh Start Housing Scheme. See your options at MOP.
• Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) and SPR quota. Your sale must keep the block and neighbourhood within the EIP quota, and for non-Malaysian PR households, the SPR quota (8% per block, 5% per neighbourhood). Quotas are updated on the 1st of each month and apply to complete resale applications submitted that month.
• Divorce or bankruptcy. After MOP, a divorcing owner can sell if the usual conditions are met and the required court documents are provided. If at least one owner is a Singapore Citizen, the Official Assignee's consent is not needed for a bankrupt owner's sale.

The five steps

1. Register an Intent to Sell. Do this personally on My Flat Dashboard, even if you use an agent. It is free and valid for 12 months. It gives a preliminary eligibility check, the earliest date you may grant an OTP (at least 7 days after registering), your block's EIP and SPR quota, upgrading status and an estimate of net proceeds. It is only an indication, not HDB's approval to sell. Information cannot be changed, so cancel and re-register if it is wrong.
2. List, negotiate and grant the Option to Purchase. With a valid Intent to Sell you can list on HDB's Resale Flat Listing service. Only buyers with a valid HFE letter can get your contact details or book viewings. Once you grant an OTP you cannot grant another until it expires. The option period is 21 calendar days. See OTP explained.
3. Submit your portion of the resale application after the buyer exercises the OTP. If you agreed a temporary extension of stay, state it in the application.
4. Endorse the resale documents and pay fees, then HDB grants approval.
5. Attend the completion appointment, about 8 weeks after HDB accepts the application. This is the earliest date and cannot be brought forward.

How your sale proceeds are worked out

HDB's formula is the resale price, less:

• The outstanding housing loan. If the price does not cover it, you pay the balance in cash.
• CPF savings you used, plus accrued interest, returned to your CPF account. See CPF accrued interest. If there is a shortfall in the refund, the buyer's cash deposit is used first.
• The cash deposit received from the buyer (up to $5,000), which is already in your hands.
• Other amounts payable, such as a resale levy (payable in cash when you buy a second subsidised flat or a developer EC; see resale levy) and upgrading costs if billed to you.

If your flat is in an upgraded precinct, a 10% upgrading levy can apply on the higher of the selling price or 90% of market value. HDB says it applies to Singapore Citizen households that benefited from the Main Upgrading Programme two or more times, and to PR households whose flats were upgraded under early batches of that programme. Your Intent to Sell tells you what applies. Agent commission, if you use one, is a negotiated cost. Use PropLeh's sale proceeds calculator to estimate your net figure.

What to settle before completion

• Terminate GIRO arrangements for service and conservancy charges, property tax and utilities.
• Pay service and conservancy charges up to the completion date and get the Town Council to sign the confirmation letter, and pay property tax up to the end of the year.
• Vacate the flat so the buyer can inspect it and take possession after the appointment.
• Bring identity cards, the original OTP (pages 1 to 10), the Town Council letter, the original duplicate lease if issued, and a full set of keys.

At the appointment you sign the transfer, hand over the keys and apportion property tax with the buyer. If you need more time to move out, you can agree a temporary extension of stay with the buyer.

When you get your money

HDB says cash proceeds are credited directly to your bank account by the next working day after completion. The refund to your CPF account is arranged within 7 to 14 working days from the completion appointment, or by your solicitors if you use private ones. If HDB acts for you, set up your bank account on the HDB Flat Portal before submitting the resale application.

Plan your next home first

HDB warns sellers to plan their next housing before putting the flat on the market, so the family is not left without a home. If you plan to buy another HDB flat with a loan, a second HDB loan is reduced using the CPF refund and up to 50% of the cash proceeds. See HDB loan vs bank loan. If you sell within IRAS's holding period, see the SSD guide.

FAQ

Figures current as of October 2026, from HDB's selling pages. MOP, quotas, levies and procedures can change and depend on your flat, so confirm your own position in My Flat Dashboard and MyHDB Page. This guide is general information only and is not legal, tax or financial advice.