You can sell an HDB flat on the open market once its Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) is over: five years for most flats, ten years for Plus and Prime flats. A sale usually takes about three to four months from granting the Option to Purchase. From the price, your outstanding loan is paid off and the CPF you used is refunded, with accrued interest, before you receive any cash. If you later buy a second subsidised flat, you will usually pay a resale levy.
Figures as at 10 October 2026. Check the official source before acting.
When the MOP ends
| Flat | MOP |
|---|---|
| Standard flats from the October 2024 exercise onwards, and most older flats bought from HDB | 5 years |
| Resale flats bought on the open market | 5 years |
| Plus and Prime flats (launched from October 2024), and earlier Prime Location Public Housing flats | 10 years |
The clock starts when you collect the keys for a flat bought from HDB, or on the resale completion date for a resale flat. Any time the whole flat was rented out does not count. Your exact MOP date is on My HDBPage, under your flat details.
Plus and Prime flats carry two more conditions. When you sell, you repay a share of the price or valuation to HDB as subsidy recovery. The share is set for each project and stated at launch. Plus and Prime flats can also never be rented out as a whole, even after the MOP.
The selling process and timeline
| Step | What happens | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Intent to Sell | Register on the HDB Flat Portal (My Flat Dashboard) | You must wait 7 days before granting an OTP |
| 2. Set a price and find a buyer | Check recent transacted prices; list through HDB's listing service, an agent, or both | Your own pace |
| 3. Grant the Option to Purchase | Buyer pays an option fee of S$1 to S$1,000; you cannot grant another OTP while it is live | The buyer has 21 calendar days, to 4pm on day 21 |
| 4. Buyer exercises | Option fee plus exercise fee capped at S$5,000. If the buyer does not exercise, you keep the option fee | Within the 21 days |
| 5. Resale application | You and the buyer each submit your part, within 7 days of the other | |
| 6. Acceptance | HDB accepts the complete application | Within 28 working days |
| 7. Endorsement | Both sides endorse the resale documents | About 3 weeks after acceptance |
| 8. Approval | HDB approves the resale | About 2 weeks after endorsement |
| 9. Completion | Hand over the keys; proceeds are paid out | About 8 weeks after acceptance |
Selling costs
- Agent commission. It is not fixed. The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) says commissions are not fixed, and you can negotiate the amount or rate. The agreed amount goes into the estate agency agreement and is paid to the agency, not to the individual agent. Ask whether GST applies, because only GST-registered agencies can charge it. You can also sell without an agent: HDB and CEA both publish the steps.
- Legal (conveyancing) fees. You pay for the legal work on the sale. Get a quote before you grant the OTP.
- Loan redemption. Check your loan terms. A bank loan may carry a penalty for early repayment.
- Seller's Stamp Duty. It applies only to sales within four years of buying (three years for purchases before 4 July 2025). Because the MOP is at least five years, an ordinary resale after the MOP does not meet it.
Where the money goes: your CPF refund
At completion, the price is used in this order: first to repay any outstanding housing loan, then to refund your CPF, then any balance comes to you in cash.
The CPF refund is:
- all the CPF you used for the flat (downpayment, instalments, stamp duty and legal fees);
- plus accrued interest, the interest that money would have earned in your Ordinary Account at 2.5% a year;
- plus any CPF housing grants you received, with their accrued interest.
Below age 55, the refund goes to your Ordinary Account. From 55, it first tops up your Retirement Account to your Full Retirement Sum: S$213,000 if you turned 55 in 2025, or S$220,400 if you turn 55 in 2026. If the price, after the loan, is not enough to cover the refund, you do not have to top it up in cash, as long as you sold at market value.
Worked example
Example (hypothetical): a flat is sold for S$650,000. S$180,000 is left on the loan, and the owners first used CPF 12 years ago, S$200,000 in total. We assumed a 1% agent commission with 9% GST, and S$2,500 in legal fees. These are illustrative inputs, not market rates or quotes. We ran PropAce's sale proceeds calculator.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | S$650,000 |
| Outstanding loan repaid | S$180,000 |
| CPF principal refunded | S$200,000 |
| CPF accrued interest | S$68,978 |
| Total back into CPF | S$268,978 |
| Agent commission (1%) plus GST | S$7,085 |
| Legal fees | S$2,500 |
| Cash proceeds | S$191,437 |
The calculator treats all S$200,000 as withdrawn 12 years ago. If part of it went into monthly instalments, the real accrued interest is lower and the cash proceeds higher. Your CPF statement has the exact figure.
Try your own numbers on the HDB cash-out page or in the sale proceeds calculator. To see when flats in a block reach their MOP, use the MOP page.
The resale levy on your next subsidised flat
The levy is not deducted from this sale. It applies later, if you buy a second subsidised flat: for example a new flat from HDB, or a new Executive Condominium from a developer. It recovers part of the subsidy on your first flat. A first flat counts as subsidised if you bought it from HDB, or bought it on resale with a CPF housing grant.
For a first subsidised flat sold on or after 3 March 2006, the levy is a fixed amount set by the type of flat you sold:
| Flat type sold | Families | Singles who received a grant |
|---|---|---|
| 2-room | S$15,000 | S$7,500 |
| 3-room | S$30,000 | S$15,000 |
| 4-room | S$40,000 | S$20,000 |
| 5-room | S$45,000 | S$22,500 |
| Executive | S$50,000 | Check HDB |
Second-timers are told the levy that applies to them when they apply for an HFE letter, and the amount is fixed when the next subsidised flat is booked. Check the current figures on hdb.gov.sg before you plan around them.
Buying a resale flat on the open market without a CPF housing grant, or buying private property, does not trigger the levy.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell before the MOP ends?
Not on the open market, except in limited cases HDB approves on appeal. Check your MOP date on My HDBPage first.
Is the agent's commission a fixed percentage?
No. CEA says commissions are not fixed and can be negotiated. Agree the amount in writing before you sign.
Do I get my CPF back as cash?
No. The CPF refund goes back into your CPF account. Only the balance after the loan and the CPF refund is paid to you in cash.
Do I pay the resale levy when I sell?
No. The levy is paid only if you later buy another subsidised flat, such as a new flat from HDB or a new EC.
How long does a resale take?
Completion is usually about eight weeks after HDB accepts the resale application. Add the 7-day wait after registering your Intent to Sell, and the buyer's 21-day option period.
Sources
- MyNiceHome (HDB): HDB flat types and classifications: the 5- and 10-year MOPs, subsidy recovery and the rental rule for Plus and Prime flats.
- HDB: Intent to Sell: registration and the 7-day wait.
- HDB: Process for selling a flat: the OTP, option period, fees, resale application, acceptance, endorsement, approval and completion.
- HDB: Terms and conditions of sale and purchase of a resale flat: the MOP for resale flats from the completion date, and rental periods excluded.
- CEA: What to take note of when engaging a property agent: commission is not fixed and is negotiable; payment to the agency; GST.
- CEA: Selling an HDB flat on your own: the steps for selling without an agent.
- CPF Board: CPF refund when selling or transferring property: what is refunded, where it goes and sales at market value.
- CPF Board: Selling your flat at 55 and CPF refunds: the top-up to the Full Retirement Sum.
- HDB: Terms and conditions of sale and purchase of a resale flat: a seller pays a resale levy on buying another subsidised flat or an EC from a developer.
- HDB Flat Portal: frequently asked questions: second-timers are told their resale levy in the HFE process. HDB's levy page did not load on 10 October 2026, so confirm the levy amounts on hdb.gov.sg.