Revised ABSD rules for upgraders, more GLS sites in OCR among PropNex’s Budget 2023 wishlist

PropNex Realty released a wish list ahead of the Budget 2023 announcement on Feb 14. Noting the upfront additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) payment – at 17% for Singaporeans buying a second residential property – is “the biggest hurdle” for many families looking to upgrade to private property, PropNex proposed the government consider revising the rules such that they are more aligned to those applicable to buyers upgrading from an HDB flat to an executive condominium (EC). Given that the Outside Central Region (OCR) serves a wider pool of demand, PropNex hopes the government will consider injecting more Government Land Sale (GLS) sites into this sub-market.

The wish list also requested more clarification on the wait-out period announced as part of the cooling measures rolled out in September 2022. Under this measure, private homeowners must now wait 15 months from the sale of their property before they can buy an unsubsidised HDB resale flat. PropNex is recommending further details be provided on this front.

Likewise, PropNex is calling for an increase in GLS sites located in the OCR under the 2H2023 GLS Programme and for the government to reduce waiting times for Build-to-Order projects from the current length typically exceeding four years down to three years. In its wish list, the company also proposed a revision in ABSD remission rules for married couples who are upgrading from HDB flats to private homes.

Ismail Gafoor, executive chairman and CEO of PropNex, stated in the Jan 12 press release, “In Budget 2023, we hope that some housing policies could be tweaked to help certain segments of the population Senja Close EC own homes and upgrade to a private property.” Gafoor remarked that “injection of more OCR residential supply will play a part in keeping mass-market home prices stable in the future”.

The company proposed buyers in the HDB upgrader category do not need to pay ABSD upfront, and are required to sell their flat six months after their new EC receives its temporary occupation permit. “There can be some form of contractual undertaking to ensure that the private home buyers sell their HDB flats within six months of collecting keys to their new home,” PropNex remarks.