Temporary occupation permit, OTP, ABSD: new launch glossary

This glossary has 22 entries for the terms Singapore new-launch buyers meet, from the temporary occupation permit (TOP) and option to purchase to ABSD, SSD and TDSR. Each definition comes from a URA, IRAS or CPF Board page, rechecked on 17 October 2026 and linked beside it; where those pages are silent, the entry says so.

Which dated figures should you recheck?

• Option terms: your own option against the archived 2020 circular.
• Stamp duty: IRAS’s BSD, ABSD and SSD pages (last updated 9 October, 27 August and 13 August 2026); see the SSD entry for URA’s older wording.

Housing Developer Sale Licence

A Housing Developer Sale Licence is the licence a developer needs to sell uncompleted residential projects of more than four units. URA’s glossary says the Controller of Housing issues it and that it is a pre-requisite for sale, alongside building plan approval.

See what a developer must have before you pay a booking fee.

Option to purchase (OTP) and booking fee

An option to purchase (OTP) is the document a developer issues when you pay a booking fee for a unit. URA says the developer must first give you mandatory information on the project and unit, and its glossary counts a unit as sold once the option has been given after the booking fee is paid.

An archived URA circular of 28 September 2020 sets the standard terms: the option expires three weeks after the sale and purchase agreement (S&PA) and title deed copies are delivered; you exercise it by signing and returning the S&PA; the developer may forfeit 25% of the booking fee if you do not. The Controller of Housing is prepared to extend validity up to 12 weeks from the option date if both sides agree. URA’s current buying page does not repeat these figures; check your own option.

IRAS’s SSD page counts acceptance of the option, or the S&PA date, as the date of purchase in most instances, except for an option subject to signing the S&PA; ask your lawyer which applies. See what each date starts and the deadlines by date.

Sale and purchase agreement (S&PA)

The sale and purchase agreement (S&PA) is the private contract between developer and purchaser for the sale of a unit. URA says licensed developers must use the standard form, no amendment can be made except with the Controller of Housing’s prior approval, and you should review the terms before signing; its developer page adds a pre-approved list of amendments.

See our payment schedule guide (percentages unverified).

Temporary occupation permit (TOP)

The temporary occupation permit (TOP) is the permit whose issue date starts several clocks for a new-home buyer. URA says that once it is issued and the progress payment due upon TOP is paid, the developer will explain how to collect your key; and IRAS says newly completed properties are taxed from the TOP date.

BCA’s pages could not be opened, so we define the permit by these effects and its name, a permit to occupy a new building (our gloss). See our TOP explainer.

Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC)

The Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC) is a certificate issued for a completed building (our reading of its name) that IRAS names beside the TOP: a married couple buying an uncompleted second home must sell their first within six months of the earlier TOP or CSC issue date to keep an ABSD refund.

No URA or IRAS page we read defines it; see the TOP explainer.

Defects liability period

The defects liability period is the 1 year within which, after you collect your key, you can inspect your unit and report defects in it and in the housing project to the developer for rectification, says URA. The page does not say when the year starts; check your agreement and our TOP explainer.

Strata area

Strata area is the private area of a unit sold to a homeowner, as URA uses the term, though the pages we read give no stand-alone definition. Its balconies page says a private enclosed space and a private roof terrace each “forms part of the private strata area of units which are sold to homeowners”.

Price per square foot (psf) depends on the area used: URA’s glossary computes its median on land area for landed homes and strata floor area for apartments and condominiums. URA does not say a balcony is strata area; see our floor plan guide.

Balcony

A balcony is, in URA’s planning guidelines, a semi-outdoor space of a flat or condominium unit. To qualify for bonus gross floor area it needs a continuous perimeter opening of at least 40%, a width of at least 1.5 m from the external building wall and, per dwelling unit, a size of at most 15% of the internal nett unit size, and it may not be enclosed with walls or glass panels. See what URA lets you change.

Private enclosed space (PES) and private roof terrace (PRT)

In URA’s words, a private enclosed space (PES) is “a semi-outdoor area adjacent to a strata unit” and a private roof terrace (PRT) is “a semi-outdoor area located at the roof level of a strata unit”; each forms part of the private strata area of units sold to homeowners. URA caps PES fencing at 1.3 m and has the developer install a cover at least 2 m wide; homeowners need MCST clearance to add covers. See our floor plan guide.

Plot ratio (gross plot ratio)

Plot ratio, our shorthand for URA’s gross plot ratio (GPR), is the ratio of a building’s gross floor area (GFA) to the area of its site. URA’s GFA handbook defines the GPR of a site as “the ratio of the GFA of a building to its site or plot area”, and GFA as covered floor space, excluding voids.

psf ppr (price per square foot of plot ratio)

The term psf ppr is shorthand for land price per square foot of plot ratio, which this site takes to mean the tendered land price divided by the maximum gross floor area (GFA) a site may carry, per square foot. It is our conversion, not a URA figure: divide a price per square metre of GFA by 10.7639.

URA’s 16 June 2026 Peck Hay Road award states S$20,076.25 per square metre of GFA, about S$1,865 psf ppr on our calculation. A land price is not a launch price; see our GLS awards guide.

Market segment (CCR, RCR, OCR)

URA divides the private residential market into three segments: the Core Central Region (CCR), postal districts 9, 10 and 11, the Downtown Core Planning Area and Sentosa; the Rest of Central Region (RCR), the rest of the Central Region; and the Outside Central Region (OCR), the East, North East, North and West Planning Regions, per URA’s glossary. See our Q3 2026 prices guide.

Executive condominium (EC)

An executive condominium (EC) is a strata-titled apartment built by the private sector with facilities similar to a private condominium, but with restrictions for the first few years, such as eligibility conditions similar to those for HDB flats and a minimum occupation period before the flat can be sold, per URA’s glossary.

URA also says EC owners must fulfil HDB’s minimum occupation period before buying private property; confirm eligibility with HDB.

Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD)

Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) is tax paid on documents signed when you buy or acquire property in Singapore. IRAS computes it on the purchase price stated in the document or the market value, whichever is higher.

For residential purchases on or after 15 February 2023: 1% on the first S$180,000, 2% on the next S$180,000, 3% on the next S$640,000, 4% on the next S$500,000, 5% on the next S$1,500,000, 6% on the rest. A cash discount stated in the document and given on signing can be deducted if the net price reflects market value; a non-cash benefit cannot. See our stamp duty guide and discount guide.

Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD)

Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) is a further duty that liable buyers pay on top of BSD. IRAS says it depends on whether the buyer is an individual or an entity, the buyer’s profile on the date of purchase and the residential properties already owned.

From 27 April 2023: citizens pay none on a first home, then 20% and 30%; permanent residents 5%, 30% and 35%; foreigners 60%; entities 65%. Joint buyers of different profiles pay the highest rate on the entire value. Payment is due within 14 days of the signed contract. See our guides to ABSD for PR buyers and joint purchases.

ABSD refund (remission)

An ABSD refund returns ABSD paid on a second home when IRAS’s conditions are met: for married couples that include a citizen and buy in both names only and, for homes bought from 16 February 2024, single citizen seniors aged 55 and above. The first home must be sold within six months of the second home’s purchase date or, if uncompleted, of the earlier TOP or CSC issue date.

IRAS will not extend the couples’ six months; the claim is due within six months of the sale, or is automatic within six weeks of stamping for forms from 2 July 2023 if the intention to sell was declared. Seniors apply, and need a second home worth less than each first home sold. See our refund guide.

Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD)

Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) is payable on a residential property sold within its holding period after purchase. IRAS says the holding period is four years for homes purchased on or after 4 July 2025, up from three, and computes SSD on the higher of selling price and market value.

Rates: 16% for a sale within one year, 12% up to two, 8% up to three, 4% up to four, nil after; in IRAS’s example, a home bought on 7 July 2025 owes no SSD on a sale on or after 7 July 2029. URA’s buying page (29 June 2026) still says three years for purchases from 11 March 2017; this entry follows IRAS’s later-dated page. See our seller’s stamp duty guide.

Total debt servicing ratio (TDSR)

The total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) is the portion of a borrower’s gross monthly income that goes towards repaying monthly debt obligations, including the loan being applied for. CPF says it should be less than or equal to 55%.

CPF also describes a separate mortgage servicing ratio (MSR), capped at 30%, for loans on an HDB flat or an executive condominium within its minimum occupation period; on that wording it does not cover a private new launch (our reading). See our home loan guide.

CPF usage limit and accrued interest

The CPF usage limit is the cap on how much Ordinary Account (OA) savings you can use for a property. For private property bought with a bank loan, CPF sets it at the lower of the purchase price and the valuation price, rising to 120% of that if you have set aside your Basic Retirement Sum; the cap falls if the remaining lease cannot cover the youngest buyer until age 95.

Accrued interest is, in CPF’s words, “the interest your CPF savings would have earned if they had remained in your CPF account”, and on a sale CPF says you refund the principal withdrawn plus that interest. See our CPF guide and freehold versus leasehold guide.

MCST (management corporation)

An MCST is the management corporation of a strata-titled development. The pages we read do not define it but show its role: URA says communal roof terraces are managed by the MCST for residents, and IRAS’s e-Tax guide, which refers to management corporations, says owners collectively own the common property and that the funds they contribute to are governed by the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act.

See our monthly cost guide.

Sinking fund and management fund

The sinking fund is normally set aside for future major building works such as painting, roof repair and replacement of lifts; the management fund is for the regular day-to-day upkeep of the common property, and its contributions are commonly known as the maintenance or service charge, says IRAS’s e-Tax guide.

For Annual Value, IRAS includes sinking fund contributions and excludes management fund contributions. See the monthly cost guide.

Annual Value (AV) and owner-occupier property tax

Annual Value (AV) is IRAS’s estimate of the gross annual rent a property could fetch if rented out, excluding furniture, furnishings and maintenance fees; IRAS bases it on market rents of comparable properties, not rent actually received. Owner-occupier property tax is the progressive annual tax charged on the AV of a home its owner lives in.

IRAS’s rates page shows rates from 1 January 2025 running from 0% on the first S$12,000 of AV to 32% above S$140,000. IRAS taxes a newly completed property from the TOP date (buyers page). See our monthly cost guide.

What does this glossary not cover?

• Balloting: no developer or URA page we opened defines it.
• “Preview” and “sales bookings”: CDL’s 16 September 2026 release said Lucerne Grand previews would start on 18 September 2026 and sales bookings on 3 October 2026, and its 4 October 2026 release says sales commenced on 3 October. No regulator page we read defines either term. See our pipeline page and Lucerne Grand guide.
• BCA, SLA, HDB and MAS definitions: their pages could not be opened, so TOP and CSC meanings, EC eligibility and TDSR scope are unconfirmed.