Minimum Occupation Period for Individuals who Buy Over Ex-spouses' Share of HDB Flat
Ministry of National DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) for HDB owners who acquire their ex-spouse’s share of a flat after a divorce. MP He Ting Ru asked if a fresh MOP is automatically applied and the rationale behind this policy, alongside statistics on waiver requests. Minister for National Development Desmond Lee explained that while part-share resales generally trigger a new MOP to ensure consistency across transactions, HDB waives this requirement for the majority of divorce cases. Between 2020 and 2024, HDB granted waivers for approximately 30 cases on a case-by-case basis, though the total number of appeals is not tracked. The Minister noted that ownership changes can occur through either a transfer of flat or a resale of part-share.
Transcript
60 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether all HDB leaseholders who purchase a part-share of their flat from their ex-spouse in accordance with the terms of a divorce judgment are automatically subject to a new five-year minimum occupation period (MOP); (b) if so, what is the rationale for this policy; (c) in each of the last five years, how many requests have been made to waive such new MOP period; and (d) how many of these requests have been granted.
Mr Desmond Lee: Divorcees who choose to take over their ex-spouse's share of the flat can do so through in two ways: (a) a change in flat ownership not through a sale, commonly referred to as a "transfer of flat"; and (b) resale of part-share in the flat.
Resales of part-share are done for many reasons. While some are due to unfortunate circumstances, such as divorce, there are also transactions done for commercial reasons. For example, when one of the co-owners under the Joint Singles Scheme sells his or her share of the flat to an unrelated third-party. As such, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) treats all resale of part-share no differently from a typical resale transaction. This includes subjecting the remaining owners and any incoming owners to a fresh Minimum Occupation Period (MOP), which starts from the day the transaction is legally completed.
However, HDB waives the need to serve a fresh MOP for majority of resale of part-share cases due to divorce. From 2020 to 2024, on a case-by-case basis, HDB approved MOP waivers for about 30 such cases. HDB does not track the total number of such appeals received.