Buying a new home from a developer in Singapore: how payments work

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Kooky

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A new private home bought from a developer in Singapore is not paid for in one go, and it is not paid for on terms the two sides invent. The price leaves the buyer's hands in slices, each released by an event on the building site or in the paperwork, and the wording of the contract that sets those slices is written into subsidiary legislation.

This guide follows the money from the first cheque to the last release. It covers the booking fee and the option to purchase, the sale and purchase agreement, the stage payments tied to construction, the part of the price held by a stakeholder, what the prescribed agreement says about late payment and late delivery, and the twelve months in which the developer must put defects right. It draws on the Housing Developers Rules as published on Singapore Statutes Online, and on the guidance and circulars of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and its Controller of Housing. Where those pages were silent, the guide says so.

Housing Developers Rules, rules 8 and 11(2), and Form 4 of the First Schedule, as published on Singapore Statutes Online.

The rules behind every new launch

The framework sits in the Housing Developers Rules, made under Singapore's housing developers legislation. The version on Singapore Statutes Online is the Revised Edition of 2008, and the latest amendment it shows is S 120/2023, in force from 28 June 2023.

The Rules do something unusual for a contract of sale: they prescribe the documents. Rule 10(1) requires the option to purchase to be in Form 2 of the First Schedule. Rule 12 then prescribes two versions of the sale and purchase agreement. Form 4 is for a unit that is not intended to be a strata lot. Form 5 is for a unit that is intended to be a strata lot.

URA's guidance for buyers describes the agreement as a private contract between the developer and the purchaser. It adds two points that shape everything else. Licensed developers must use the standard form, and no amendment can be made to it without the prior approval of the Controller of Housing. A circular from the Controller dated 6 August 2025 states the same for the option: developers selling uncompleted properties must use the standard option to purchase, and any amendment needs the Controller's approval.

What differs from project to project is what the forms leave blank: the price, the booking fee within its permitted range, the unit's details and the dates for handover and completion.

What happens before any money is paid

Two things come before the booking fee, according to the sources read for this guide.

The first is information. URA's guidance says the developer must give the buyer mandatory project and unit information before it accepts the booking fee. The same guidance points to the Housing Developers (Show Unit) Rules, under which developers must ensure that the plans, models and show units they display are accurate and match the approved building plans.

The second is identity. The Controller's circular of 6 August 2025 refers to the Housing Developers (Prevention of Money Laundering, Proliferation Financing and Terrorism Financing) Rules 2023. Under rule 4(1) of those rules, the circular says, a developer must carry out customer due diligence in listed circumstances, one of which is before granting an option to purchase. Rule 4(3) deals with the case where the developer is unable to complete the checks. In that case the developer must not grant an option for the unit, must not accept any sum of money from the purchaser for the intended purchase, booking fee included, and must not enter into a sale and purchase agreement.

To make the standard option fit those duties, the Controller has pre-approved a set of amendments that developers may use in every option without asking again.

The booking fee and the option to purchase

The booking fee is the price of the option. Rule 8 of the Housing Developers Rules sets it at not less than 5 per cent and not more than 10 per cent of the purchase price of the unit. Form 2 leaves the amount blank for the developer to fill in within that range.

In exchange, the buyer receives an option in Form 2: the developer's promise to sell that unit at that price if the buyer takes up the offer in time. The clock then runs in two parts. Under clause 2.1 of Form 2, the developer must deliver the sale and purchase agreement and the title deeds within 14 days after the date of the option. Under clause 3.1, the option expires 3 weeks after those documents are delivered. Rule 11(2) puts it precisely: the 3 weeks start on the day after the title deeds, or copies of them, and the execution copies of the agreement reach the option holder or the holder's solicitors.

A buyer who does not go ahead does not lose the whole fee. Clause 5.1(a) of Form 2 requires the developer to refund 75 per cent of the booking fee within 4 weeks, which leaves 25 per cent with the developer. Rule 11 also provides that the option lapses if the holder gives written notice that it will not be exercised, so a buyer who has decided against the purchase does not have to wait out the 3 weeks.

A worked example, with assumed figures: on a unit priced at S$2,000,000, the booking fee may be anything from S$100,000, which is 5 per cent, to S$200,000, which is 10 per cent. If the fee is S$100,000 and the option is not exercised, the developer refunds S$75,000 and keeps S$25,000. At a fee of S$200,000, the amount kept is S$50,000.

More time, and the limit on a second option

The Controller of Housing has addressed both ways of stretching the three weeks.

The first way is a formal extension. Rule 11 allows the Controller to permit a different validity period. The Controller's circular of 28 September 2020 explains how this works in practice: on application, the Controller may extend the option's validity up to 12 weeks from the date of the option, if both parties agree.

The second way was to let the option expire and issue a fresh one for the same unit. The same circular closed that route. Since 28 September 2020, as a condition of their sale licences, developers may not re-issue an option to the same purchaser or purchasers for the same unit within 12 months after the earlier option expires. They may not agree upfront to re-issue, and they must tell purchasers about the restriction in advance. The Controller may consent in writing to an exception. The circular is now filed among URA's archived circulars; its page carries no note saying it has been superseded or withdrawn, so its present status is a point to confirm.

The circular gives its reasons: the three-week validity is meant to encourage financial prudence, and a purchaser risks forfeiting 25 per cent of the booking fee.

Signing the agreement: the first 20 per cent

Once the option is exercised within its period, clause 5.1 of the agreement governs the money, through a table the forms call the Payment Schedule.

Item 1 of that schedule is 20 per cent of the purchase price. Both forms make it payable on signing or within 8 weeks after the option date. In both, the 20 per cent is inclusive of the booking fee, so the buyer tops up what was already paid.

In the worked example, with a price of S$2,000,000 and a booking fee of S$100,000, item 1 comes to S$400,000 and the top-up is S$300,000.

Signing also starts the tax clock. URA's guidance states that Buyer's Stamp Duty is payable after the agreement is signed, and that Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty may also apply, depending on the buyer's profile.

Form 5 also covers two cases in which the sale falls away through no failure to pay. Under clause 23.3, where the purchaser is not a Singapore citizen or an approved purchaser, the required approval must be obtained within 12 weeks. If it is not, the sale becomes void. The purchaser receives a full refund if evidence of the refusal is provided within 2 weeks after that period, and a refund less 25 per cent of the booking fee if it is not. Under clause 23.4, if the corporate approvals needed on the vendor's side are not given, the sale is void and the purchaser is refunded in full, without interest.

Stage payments tied to construction

After the first 20 per cent, the buyer pays when the building reaches set milestones, not on calendar dates. Item 2 of the Payment Schedule has six parts adding up to 40 per cent of the price. Item 3 is a further 25 per cent, triggered by the Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) or the Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC), together with notice that the building and its services are complete and connected.

Each instalment under items 2 and 3 falls due within 14 days after the purchaser receives the developer's notice that the stage has been reached.

In the example, the six construction stages come to S$800,000, so S$1,200,000, or 60 per cent of the price, has been paid by the time the last of them is certified. The S$500,000 due at item 3 brings the total to S$1,700,000, or 85 per cent, at the moment the home can be occupied. The remaining S$300,000 waits for the paperwork described in the next section.

Item 3 is also the payment that opens the door. URA's guidance states that the progress payment due upon TOP must be paid before key collection.

The last 15 per cent and the stakeholder

Most of the final 15 per cent passes through a stakeholder. Rule 12(5) of the Housing Developers Rules provides that the Singapore Academy of Law acts as stakeholder under the prescribed agreements, and items 4 and 5 of the Payment Schedule set out two routes, depending on whether the CSC arrives after or before the Completion Date.

Where the CSC is issued after the Completion Date, item 4 applies. Of the last 15 per cent, 2 per cent goes to the developer and 13 per cent to the Academy as stakeholder. The stakeholder then releases 8 per cent to the developer within 7 working days after it receives the CSC, and the final 5 per cent, less any authorised deductions, on the Final Payment Date.

Where the CSC is issued before the Completion Date, item 5 applies. The purchaser pays 13 per cent within 14 days after receiving the CSC, of which 8 per cent goes to the developer and 5 per cent to the stakeholder, and pays the last 2 per cent on the Completion Date.

Form 5, the strata agreement, carries the same split and the same 7 working days, and adds a variant under each item for the case where the Final Payment Date arrives before the Completion Date or before the CSC: 5 per cent then falls due on the Final Payment Date itself.

On both routes, 5 per cent of the price stays with the stakeholder until the Final Payment Date. Forms 4 and 5 define that date in the same way, as 12 months after the earlier of two events: delivery of vacant possession, or the 15th day after the purchaser receives the item 3 documents. In the worked example, the last 15 per cent is S$300,000. On the item 4 route, S$40,000 goes to the developer and S$260,000 to the stakeholder, which later releases S$160,000 on the CSC and holds S$100,000 until the Final Payment Date.

That last S$100,000 is where a claim for unrepaired defects can be met. The forms set a tight procedure around it. The developer must serve the CSC on the purchaser and the stakeholder on the same day, under clause 5.2. A purchaser who intends to deduct from the stakeholding sum must give notice of the deductions at least 7 working days before the Final Payment Date, under clause 5.5. The developer may dispute them by a notice served at least one working day before that date, under clause 5.7, and clause 5.8 then governs when the amounts in question are paid out. Under clause 5.11 the interest earned on stakeholding money accrues to the Academy, not to either party.

The schedule pays the developer as the building rises, and keeps back the last 5 per cent until a year of living in the home has passed.

When an instalment is paid late

The prescribed agreement treats late payment in three steps, which are the same in Forms 4 and 5.

1. Interest. Under clause 6, interest runs from the day after the period for payment ends. Clause 6.3 sets the rate at 2 per cent per annum above the Base Rate, calculated daily. The text read for this guide did not include the definition of the Base Rate.
2. Notice. Under clause 7.1, the developer may treat the agreement as repudiated if an instalment and its interest remain unpaid for more than 14 days after the due date. Before doing so it must give at least 21 days' written notice under clause 7.2.
3. Annulment. Under clause 7.3, the agreement is annulled if payment is not made within the notice period.

After annulment, clause 7.4 allows the developer to re-enter the unit, to resell it, and to recover interest, property tax, maintenance charges and costs. It may also forfeit and keep 20 per cent of the purchase price out of the instalments paid, interest excluded, and claim any shortfall. Clause 7.5 requires the balance of the instalments to be refunded within 21 days after the later of the annulment or the return of vacant possession, provided the purchaser's caveats have been withdrawn.

In the worked example, 20 per cent is S$400,000. A buyer who had paid S$1,200,000 before the agreement was annulled would see S$400,000 forfeited, and the further sums the clause allows the developer to recover would come out of the remaining S$800,000 before the balance was refunded.

Late handover, design changes and floor area

The duties run both ways. The clauses in this section and the next were read in Form 4, the agreement for a unit that is not a strata lot; the text of Form 5 on Singapore Statutes Online could be read only as far as clause 11, so its handover, damages, area and defects clauses are not confirmed here. Form 5's own definitions show that its numbering is not identical: they place the notice of vacant possession in clause 12.3, where Form 4 deals with handover in clause 13, and the Notice to Complete in clause 16.1, as in Form 4. A buyer of a strata unit will find the wording that binds the sale in the agreement actually signed.

Handover has two deadlines in Form 4. Clause 13.1(a) carries a Vacant Possession Date, left blank for each project to fill in. Clause 13.1(b) adds that the developer must deliver the unit within 21 days after it receives the item 3 instalment. If handover is late, clause 13.7 sets liquidated damages, a compensation rate fixed in advance, at 10 per cent per annum on the instalments already paid, calculated daily. Rule 14(2) of the Housing Developers Rules preserves the purchaser's right to claim those damages.

A worked example, with assumed figures: a buyer has paid S$1,200,000 when the Vacant Possession Date passes, and the unit is delivered 90 days late. Ten per cent a year on S$1,200,000 is S$120,000. Taking a 365-day year, that is about S$328.77 a day, or about S$29,589 for the 90 days.

Changes to the home are restricted by clause 14. The developer may change the specifications only if the purchaser agrees and any approvals needed are obtained, or if the authorities require the change. The purchaser does not pay for a change the authorities require, and where cheaper materials are substituted the clause provides for a price reduction or damages.

Floor area has its own tolerance. Under clause 18.3, a shortfall of up to 3 per cent of the stated area brings no reduction in price. Beyond 3 per cent, the price falls by the unit purchase price for each square metre of the shortfall above that level.

Legal completion comes later than handover. Under clause 15.1 the developer must obtain the CSC at its own cost. Under clause 16.1 it must give the Notice to Complete by a date written into the agreement or 3 years after vacant possession, whichever is earlier, and under clause 16.2 completion takes place 14 days after the purchaser receives that notice.

The defects liability period

Clause 17.1 of Form 4 sets the defects liability period at 12 months, counted from the earlier of the delivery of vacant possession or the 15th day after the purchaser receives the item 3 documents. URA's guidance for buyers describes the same period more simply, as one year after key collection, and says that after collecting the keys the buyer inspects the unit and reports defects to the developer for rectification within that year. Form 5 uses the same starting point for its Final Payment Date, and its definition of a defect is wider than the unit: it covers the housing project, the common property and the limited common property as well.

The repair procedure in clauses 17.2 to 17.4 has four moves.

1. The purchaser gives the developer notice of the defect, and the developer must make it good within one month.
2. If it does not, the purchaser may send a written notice of the intention to have the work done, with a contractor's quotation.
3. The developer then has 14 days to carry out the works itself.
4. If it still does not act, the purchaser may have the works done and recover the cost, including by deduction from the sum held by the Singapore Academy of Law.

The two periods line up. The defects liability period and the Final Payment Date are both 12 months from the same starting point, so the 5 per cent held by the stakeholder is released on the day the defects year ends. A purchaser who means to deduct must have served the deduction notice at least 7 working days before that date.

Deferred payment and the Controller's role

Two parts of this subject could not be documented from primary pages, and they are stated as open points.

The first is the deferred payment scheme. The only schedule in the text read for this guide is the progress schedule described above. URA's media releases include one titled "Withdrawal of deferred payment scheme for property purchases", but that page could not be opened during research, so this guide does not state when the withdrawal took effect, how the scheme worked or which sales, if any, may still use one. The main Rules, in the version showing S 120/2023 as their latest amendment, contain no rule that mentions deferred payment. What the sources do establish is narrower: a licensed developer selling an uncompleted unit must use the prescribed option and agreement, and a departure from their terms needs the Controller of Housing's prior approval.

The second is the full extent of the Controller's role. The pages read show the Controller, an office within URA, doing five things: approving amendments to the option and the agreement, pre-approving standard amendments for all developers, attaching conditions to sale licences, consenting to exceptions from the re-issue restriction, and extending an option's validity on application. URA describes the agreement itself as a private contract, and the pages read for this guide set out no complaint or dispute procedure. The Rules carry a penalty provision, rule 19(1), of a fine not exceeding S$5,000, imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both. It applies to a failure to comply with the Rules, and to giving the Controller false or misleading information, including in a licence application.

URA's guidance adds one warning about names. The Controller of Housing is not the Controller of Residential Property at the Singapore Land Authority, the office that handles approvals for non-citizens buying landed houses.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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