SINGAPORE — The Government will lower the holding period for those who want to sell a residential property from the current four years to three, the authorities announced on Friday.

The Seller’s Stamp Duties (SSD), which is payable by those who sell a residential property, will also be lowered by four percentage points for each tier, according to a joint statement by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of National Development and Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The new SSSD rates will range from 4% (for properties sold in the third year) to 12% (for those sold within the first year). This compares with the current rates of between 4% and 16% of the property’s value.

The changes will apply to all residential property purchased from Saturday (March 11).

The announcements came as Mr Lawrence Wong, the Second Minister for Finance, introduced in Parliament new legislative changes with regards to the SSD.

"(The changes are) aimed at treating transactions in residential properties on the same basis irrespective of whether the properties are transacted directly or through a transfer of equity interest in an entity holding residential properties," the statement said.

It added: "The intent is not to impact the ordinary buying and selling of shares in such entities by retail investors, where the entities are listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. However, significant owners of residential property-holding entities or PHEs will be subject to the usual stamp duties when they transfer equity interest in such entities, similar to what would happen if they were to buy or sell the properties directly."