18 April 2012
Changes to the Housing Developers Rules
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has implemented changes to the Housing Developers Rules (HDR) today. The changes will enhance transparency in the real estate industry and enable home-buyers to make better informed decisions when buying a home. Some of these key changes include:
1. Mandatory information to intending home-buyers
Developers will have to provide more information on the housing project and property to home-buyers before the issue of the Option-to-Purchase. The information to be provided would include a drawn-to-scale location plan and site plan of the project, unit floor plan and a breakdown of a unit’s floor area by the various spaces such as bedrooms, balconies and bay windows.
2. Track record of developers
Developers will have to provide information on at least one completed project they had built to home-buyers before the issue of the Option-to-Purchase.
3. Home-buyers’ consent for changes to a housing unit
Developers will have to obtain the home-buyer’s consent for changes in a unit that would affect the home-buyer, e.g. changes to the layout of the unit.
4. Extend controls on advertisements to those on websites
Existing controls on advertisements in newspapers and sales brochures will be extended to advertisements on websites. Similar to advertisements in newspapers and sales brochures, advertisements on websites must not contain any false or misleading information.
URA had taken into consideration feedback from various stakeholders including developers, lawyers, architects, consumers and professional associations when finalising the changes to the HDR.
The Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore (REDAS) welcomes the changes to the HDR. Its president Mr Wong Heang Fine said: “URA had worked closely with members of the real estate industry and other key stakeholders when reviewing the changes to the HDR. REDAS supports these changes which will help potential buyers make more informed choices when purchasing their ideal homes. As a body representative of a large community of property developers, REDAS is committed to continually promote good practices and professionalism among developers to deliver better and higher quality homes for all.”
The changes to the HDR will be gazetted today and will take effect on 18 May 2012. Details of the changes can be found at Annex A.
In addition to the changes to the HDR, URA is also finalising changes to the Housing Developers (Control & Licensing) Act. The changes include requirements on setting up showflats to depict the actual units accurately and the publication of transacted prices on a weekly basis. URA will make the necessary legislative amendments to support the changes, which will be implemented in the second half of 2012.
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