Revisions To Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty Regime to Support Housing Developers Undertaking Large-Scale En Bloc Redevelopments
Longer timelines may increase developer confidence in acquiring large en bloc sites, potentially enabling estate rejuvenation and additional housing supply while reducing execution pressure.
For en bloc sites bought from 29 July 2026, ABSD completion and sale timelines will extend to six years for 700–1,399 units and seven years for ≥1,400 units.
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The Government announced today changes to the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) regime to support licensed housing developers (HDs) in undertaking large-scale en bloc redevelopments.
Currently, licensed HDs purchasing residential land are subject to 40% ABSD, comprising a (i) 5% non-remittable component and (ii) 35% upfront remittable component. The upfront remittable component with interest will be clawed back, if the following timelines are not met:
a. Commencement of housing development within 2 years from the date of acquisition of the site (“commencement timeline”);
b. Completion of the housing development within 5 years from the date of acquisition of the site (“completion timeline”); and
c. Sale of all housing units within 5 years from the date of acquisition of the site (“sale timeline”).
These conditions ensure the timely injection of housing supply and encourage housing developers to bid for land prudently.
On 6 Mar 2025, the Government implemented the ABSD(HD) Remission Timeline Extension Framework for Complex Projects to encourage HDs to undertake complex large-scale urban transformation developments, optimise land use through intensification or integration, rejuvenate older estates, or adopt new construction technologies to achieve higher productivity targets. Projects that fall within one of the following four categories are eligible for a 6-month extension to the ABSD(HD) remission timelines, or a 12-month extension if they fall within more than one category:
a. Category 1: En bloc projects i) that can yield at least 700 units upon redevelopment, and ii) where the redevelopment yield is at least 1.5 times that of the original development;
b. Category 2: Projects with complex technical or infrastructural requirements;
c. Category 3: Projects approved under the Strategic Development Incentive (SDI) scheme; and
d. Category 4: Projects that aim to achieve higher productivity targets, through the adoption of nascent construction technologies, methodologies or progressive practices.
Enhancements to ABSD(HD) Remission Timeline Extension Framework for Complex Projects
To further support HDs in undertaking large-scale redevelopment projects, thereby facilitating the rejuvenation of these sites and availing additional housing supply to meet resilient housing demand, the Government will provide a further extension to the ABSD(HD) remission timelines for two groups of en bloc sites under Category 1 where the site is purchased on or after 29 Jul 2026:
a. Large Site (Category 1A) – where the site yields at least 700 residential units but less than 1,400 residential units upon redevelopment. The completion and sale timelines will be extended to 6 years, from 5.5 years currently;
b. Mega Site (Category 1B) – where the site yields at least 1,400 residential units upon redevelopment. The completion and sale timelines will be extended to 7 years, from 5.5 years currently. To ensure the timely release of housing supply for sale by developers, an intermediate sales condition will be applied. HDs of these projects will be required to sell a minimum of 50% of the residential units at the end of 6 years. Should they fail to do so, these HDs will incur the full clawback on the 35% upfront remittable component of the ABSD with interest at the end of 6 years.1
The commencement timeline for Large (Category 1A) and Mega (Category 1B) sites will remain unchanged at 2.5 years. To qualify for the extended completion and sale timelines, the number of residential units upon redevelopment is also required to be at least 1.5 times the number of residential units of the existing development.
Large or Mega Sites that qualify for more than one category of the ABSD(HD) Remission Timeline Extension Framework for Complex Projects (see Paragraph 4) will be provided an additional extension of 6 months to the ABSD(HD) remission timelines. This means that such Large and Mega Sites will be granted:
a. Commencement timeline of 3 years; and
b. Completion and sale timelines of 6.5 years for Large Sites and 7.5 years for Mega Sites2.
The current and revised ABSD(HD) remission timelines for en bloc projects according to the number of residential units after redevelopment are set out in Table 1:
Table 1: Current and Revised ABSD(HD) Remission Timelines for En Bloc Sites, by Number of Residential Units and Intensification Factor after Redevelopment
Status
Type of site
No. of residential units after redevelopment
Minimum intensification factor*
ABSD(HD) commencement timeline#
ABSD(HD) completion and sale timeline#
ABSD(HD) Intermediate sales condition
Current
Regular En Block Site
5 – 699 units
-
2 years
5 years
None
Category 1 - Large En Bloc Site3
≥700 units
1.5x
2.5 years
5.5 years
None
Revised (with effect from 29 July 2026)
Regular En Bloc Site (no change)
5 – 699 units
-
2 years
5 years
None
Category 1A - Large En Bloc Site (revised)
700 – 1,399 units
1.5x
2.5years
6 years
None
Category 1B - Mega En Bloc Site (revised)
≥1,400 units
1.5x
2.5 years
7 years
At least 50% of units at the end of 6 years
Notes:
* The intensification factor is defined as the number of residential units upon redevelopment divided by the number of residential units of the existing development.
# For Large and Mega En Bloc Sites, a separate extension of 6-month is applicable to these respective timelines if the project falls within more than one category of the ABSD(HD) Remission Timeline Extension Framework for Complex Projects4, bringing the total timelines to 6.5 and 7.5 years respectively.
More Information
For more details, please refer to IRAS’s website.
Issued By: Ministry of Finance and Ministry of National Development
Date: 28 July 2026
[1] Developers who have sold at least 50% of residential units in the project by the end of 6 years will still be required to sell all units and complete the housing development by the end of 7 years or will similarly be subject to a full ABSD clawback on the 35% upfront remittable component with interest.
[2] Regardless of these extensions, HDs of Mega Sites must still sell at least 50% of the residential units by the end of 6 years
[3] Only applicable for en bloc sites purchased between 6 Mar 2025 and 28 Jul 2026. Categories 1A and 1B will apply for en bloc sites purchased from 29 Jul 2026 onwards.
[4] For Regular en bloc sites, projects that fall within Category 2, 3, or 4 of the Complex Projects framework are eligible for a 6-month extension to the ABSD(HD) remission timelines, or a 12-month extension if they fall within more than one of such categories.