Private home buyers to get better protection with revamped rules

SINGAPORE – Regulatory changes will be made to safeguard private residential home buyers and help them make more informed decisions on their purchases, which will in turn raise overall industry standards, National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat said.

Private housing supply in the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme for the first half of 2026 will also be boosted by about 4,500 new units, bringing the overall supply pipeline to more than 58,000 private residential units, Mr Chee said on Nov 13.

The rule changes will take effect in early 2026, and include requiring developers to provide additional details on new housing projects in sales documents, such as marking the structural walls and refuse chambers in the site plan.

“This is to provide upfront clarity to home buyers on layout plans, to reduce possible disagreements between developers and buyers downstream,” Mr Chee said in a speech at the 66th anniversary dinner of the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (Redas) held at Shangri-La hotel.

Developers are currently required to provide scaled unit floor plans with rooms and spaces clearly marked, as well as site plans showing communal facilities, based on approved building plans at the point of sale.

To promote transparency, developers will also have to provide information to prospective buyers on their track records, including the Construction Quality Assessment System (Conquas) banding of their past projects.

Conquas is Singapore’s national standard for assessing workmanship quality in government projects and bigger developments when they are completed. It is usually applied to larger-scale projects, such as private condominiums and public housing developments with a contract value of $5 million and above.

The assessment process consists of three components: internal finishes, installation methods verification and functional tests, as well as external finishes.

This will allow prospective buyers to compare developers’ project quality standards and better identify developers that have consistently delivered good-quality projects, Mr Chee said.

In addition, the start date for the defects liability period and home buyers’ liability for maintenance charges will be adjusted to the 35th day – up from the current 15th day – after the progress payment notice is issued at the Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) stage.

This is aimed at giving home buyers more time to inspect their new homes and notify developers of defects.

Currently, the one-year defects liability period and home buyers’ maintenance charge liability start on the date of delivery of vacant possession of the property, or the 15th day after the payment notice is issued at the TOP stage, whichever is earlier.

Under the new rules, these periods will now start on the date of delivery of vacant possession of the property, or the 35th day after the payment notice is issued at the TOP stage, whichever is earlier.

This adjustment better aligns the defects liability period to when buyers take possession of their units, as developers currently have 21 days to deliver possession after collecting the progress payment, Mr Chee explained.

“In addition to supporting home buyers in making informed decisions, these changes will benefit developers too by ensuring a level playing field,” he said.

Private and public land supply

The minister also said the Government will maintain a high level of public and private housing supply over the next few years to meet strong demand.

From 2025 to 2027, some 55,000 Build-To-Order flats will be launched, up from an earlier target of 50,000.

Land supply for more than 25,000 private residential units will be released through the GLS programme.

Private housing supply on the confirmed list of the GLS programme in the second half of 2025 dipped 6.1 per cent to 4,725 units, down from 5,030 in the first half of the year. However, analysts say this is still much higher than the land supply from 2015 to 2023.

The Government will continue to monitor the growth in housing prices, which have moderated in recent months, given recent changes in interest rates, Mr Chee said.

Analysts added that lower borrowing rates may spur more home buyers to act, as several projects in desirable locations are expected to hit the market soon.

As at Nov 13, the three-month compounded Singapore Overnight Rate Average or Sora, which banks use to price home loan packages, has eased to around 1.25 per cent per annum – the lowest in more than three years.

Private residential prices gained 3 per cent in the first three quarters of 2025, broadly matching the pace in 2024.

Resale HDB flat prices saw the slowest quarterly increase in nearly five years in the third quarter of 2025.

Resale flat prices inched up by 0.4 per cent from July to September, down from the 0.9 per cent in the second quarter and 1.6 per cent in the first quarter. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of slowing price growth and represents the lowest quarter-on-quarter increase since the second quarter of 2020.