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Redas calls for ABSD deferment for first-time HDB upgraders to private property

Upgraders to ECs currently get ABSD remission; they are given six months to dispose of their HDB flats after getting key to new EC unit

Kalpana Rashiwala

Published Tue, Sep 29, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Singapore property

Singapore

THE head of the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore has urged the government to urgently consider allowing first-time upgraders from an HDB flat to a private property to defer payment of the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) till six months after the completion of the private property.

This follows the government's clampdown on Monday on the re-issuance of options to purchase (OTPs) by private housing developers.

Currently, HDB upgraders who buy a new executive condominium (EC) unit get ABSD remission. (ECs are a public-private housing hybrid.) This group is given six months to dispose of their HDB flats after having collected the key to their new EC home.

If Redas president Chia Ngiang Hong's suggestion comes to fruition, HDB upgraders buying a private home would not face the pressure of having to pay up the ABSD within 14 days of signing the sale and purcha…