As per the recent rules, HDB owners who bought their Sers (Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme) flat will only be allowed to resell their houses after five years from the key collection date. This rule will be first implemented in the Sers flats that are found in the Ang Mo Kio Site.
If we talk about the previous regulations, homeowners were allowed to sell their units seven years counting from the day they selected their unit at a specific replacement site. Either way, they can also sell their houses five years counted from the key collection date. It clearly means that the owners who purchased SERS flat could sell their houses even before the completion of the five years duration. This is likely to provide them an edge over Sers owners that are investing in flats at some other sites by using Sers rehousing benefits with SBF (Sale of Balance Flats), BTO (Built to Order) schemes, or via open booking, which they are allowed to sell their flats after completion of the five years span.
As per the recent updates received from HDB professionals, these revised regulations will apply to all Sers sites that are announced after or on April 7. Note that only four HDB blocks in the Ang Mo Kio sites were selected under this scheme.
With the updated MOP (minimum occupation period) ruling fro Sers housing, SERS flat owners now need to follow the same MOP ruling as that of the owners at HDB flats and resale market. Note that this minimum occupation period is the length of period for which the flat owners need to stay physically in the purchased flats before they become eligible to sell them again in the resale market. Hence, with the new ruling, a minimum 5-year stay is required for all these owners.
In a recent conversation, the spokesperson from HDB revealed that the revised ruling was announced to maintain fair treatment among all Sers buyers, irrespective of their replacement flat purchase.
The flat owners who own a unit in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 over Blocks 562 to 565 were conveyed about the new MOP criteria along with the information package delivered to them right on the Sers announcement day. These revised rules came into action after a five-room replacement flat was sold for a record high price of $1.4 million at Block 96A Henderson Road under the Redhill Close Sers project. This unit has only one month and 96 years left for its 99-year lease contract.
Property experts in Singapore believe that the revised MOP rule ensures enhanced fairness for all unit owners by closing the longstanding loophole in the market. Note that the previous MOP scheme of seven years allowed Sers flat owners to put their replacement flats on sale in the open market just after living there for three years while counting four years of the construction period. Such types of Sers replacement units were known to have a lease that is slightly longer and, hence, they tend to attract buyers to offer higher resale prices. The revised rule ensures that no Sers owners will be able to resell their flat before the authorized duration.
Learn more from the website below,
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/change-in-hdbs-minimum-occupation-period-criteria-for-sers-replacement-flats-starting-with-ang-mo-kio-site
