Applications for Reducing Minimum Occupation Period for HDB Flats
Ministry of National DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the volume and grounds for Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) waiver applications as raised by Mr Murali Pillai. Minister Desmond Lee stated that HDB approved about 4,500 households to sell flats early over the last three years for reasons such as financial hardship, divorce, or death. These appeals are assessed on a case-by-case basis, though HDB does not track unique request figures. The Minister emphasized that MOP safeguards flats for genuine housing needs and deters speculative reselling to maintain affordability. This ensures that HDB flats remain intended for owner-occupation rather than quick profit-making.
Transcript
77 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for National Development (a) in each year of the past three years, how many applications for reducing the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) has been received by HDB; (b) what are the usual grounds relied on by the applicants; (c) what is the average percentage of applications that are allowed by HDB in the past three years; and (d) what are the circumstances under which HDB may be persuaded to reduce the flat owner’s MOP.
Mr Desmond Lee: HDB does not actively track the number of unique appeals from flat owners who wish to sell their flat before fulfilling their minimum occupation period (MOP) as the data may include duplicate and repeated requests.
In the last three years, HDB has given approval to about 4,500 households to sell their flat on the open market before meeting their MOP. The reasons for such exceptions include financial hardship, divorce or the demise of the flat owner. For comparison, over the same period, there were about 71,600 resale transactions.
The MOP remains important to ensure that flat owners purchase HDB flats with the intent of living in the flats themselves, instead of quickly reselling the flats for profit. This safeguards HDB flats for households with genuine housing needs. It also deters the speculative purchase of HDB flats and thus helps to keep HDB flats affordable. HDB assesses all appeals for a waiver of the MOP on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the specific circumstances of the flat owners and their families.