Singapore does not often rewrite the rules for buying a new home. On 30 October, its Urban Redevelopment Authority and Building and Construction Authority did just that. A joint circular, URA/COH/Circular-2026-03, sets out changes to the Housing Developers Rules that take effect on 31 December 2026. The aim, in the circular's own words, is to strengthen protection for home buyers. For a Bangladeshi buyer looking at a Singapore launch, the changes are worth reading before the booking fee is paid.
Information before the booking fee
The first change is about information, and it comes before any money changes hands. Licensed developers must give buyers clearer and more complete information about the property before collecting the booking fee. That information comes in a prescribed document, the Particulars, Documents and Information, known as the PDI, which is Form 3 under the Housing Developers Rules. A developer must issue the PDI for the buyer's consideration before accepting the booking fee and issuing the Option to Purchase, known as the OTP.
The PDI will carry more detail than before. Developers must disclose their track record under the Construction Quality Assessment System, known as CONQUAS, so a buyer can see how the developer's past projects were rated for workmanship. They must also state the maximum maintenance charge rates for the property, in the PDI, in the OTP and in the Sale and Purchase Agreement. The circular also requires clearer information on site and floor plans, and on the project itself, so the buyer can judge the home on the documents, not only on the show flat.
New contracts, longer defect cover
The second change is about the contracts. Developers must use newly prescribed OTP and Sale and Purchase Agreement forms, with stronger safeguards for buyers. The new forms apply to projects launched for sale on or after 31 December 2026, where no OTP was issued before that date. Projects where OTPs were already issued before 31 December 2026 can continue with the earlier forms for the remaining unsold units, under conditions approved by the authority. The date that matters is whether an OTP was issued before the change.
The defect provisions are the sharpest part of the new contracts. The Defects Liability Period, the period during which the developer must fix defects, and the buyer's liability for maintenance charges will now start together, on the 35th day after the buyer receives the notice of Temporary Occupation Permit payment, or on the actual date vacant possession is delivered, whichever is earlier. The Defects Liability Period for common property will run for 12 months from that start date, or six months after the first Annual General Meeting, whichever is later. In plain terms, the common areas, the lifts, the lobby, the pool, the car park, get a longer period of developer responsibility than before.
There is also new protection where a developer changes the approved drawings after selling a unit. In general, changes to the drawings need the buyer's consent, except where the change is needed to comply with a new requirement imposed by the authority after the OTP was issued. Where a developer makes a material change and the buyer objects, so that the Sale and Purchase Agreement is rescinded, the developer must refund the progress payments and the stamp duty already paid, and must also compensate the buyer for housing loan interest, loan cancellation fees and legal costs, with that extra compensation capped at 5 per cent of the purchase price. That cap matters. It puts a number on a dispute that used to be left to argument.
What a Bangladeshi buyer should do
What should a Bangladeshi buyer do with this? The first step is to treat the PDI as the document that matters most. Ask for it before paying a booking fee, read the CONQUAS track record, read the maximum maintenance charge, and read the site and floor plans. The second step is to check the OTP date, and to ask which form of contract applies. The third step is to get a Singapore lawyer to read the Sale and Purchase Agreement before signing, and to explain the Defects Liability Period and the defect provisions in plain language. None of this is new advice. The new rules make it easier to follow, because the information must now be given before the money is taken. The questions Singapore now forces developers to answer are the ones a Dhaka buyer should ask anyway: track record, maintenance cost, and who fixes defects, for how long.
This article is information only, not financial or legal advice. Check the current position with a Singapore solicitor before signing, because the transition rules turn on the date an OTP was issued for the particular project.
