Written answer by Ministry of National Development on allowing seniors above 55 years old who are moving from a private property to a 4-room or smaller resale HDB flat to be exempted from the 15-month wait-out period

Feb 5, 2024

Question No: 5447

Question by: Mr Chong Kee Hiong

To ask the Minister for National Development with regard to the policy allowing seniors above 55 years old who are moving from a private property to a 4-room or smaller resale HDB flat to be exempted from the 15-month wait-out period (a) what is the number of seniors doing so in the last two years; (b) what has been the impact on the prices and turnover of 4-room resale HDB flats; and (c) whether there has been a spillover impact on the prices of 5-room resale HDB flats.

Answer:

From 30 Sep 2022, current and former private residential owners (PPOs) must wait out 15 months from the disposal of their private property before they are allowed to buy a non-subsidised resale flat. This is a temporary measure to moderate the demand for resale flats and ensure that resale flats remain affordable for flat buyers with greater housing needs. To support seniors’ retirement needs, Singapore citizens (and their spouses) aged 55 and above who are right-sizing from their private property to a 4-room or smaller resale HDB flat are exempted from the wait-out period.

2.             From 30 September 2022 to 31 December 2023, about 940 senior households have benefited from the exemption and right-sized to a 4-room or smaller resale HDB flat.  They formed under 4% of all resale transactions for 4-room or smaller flats in the period. Given the small numbers, there is likely minimal impact by this group of seniors on the prices and resale volume of 4-room resale HDB flats. Similarly, we do not expect a spillover impact on the prices of 5-room resale HDB flats.