I came across this interesting article today regarding a divorce case of 2 former flight attendants. They had bought a Yishun BTO flat in their joint names in August 2014 for $371,500, which had a 5-year minimum occupancy period. The family court district judge had ruled in 2018 that the woman be given the first option to buy out the husband’s share in their flat as part of the matrimonial division of assets. However the woman had argued the man should sell her his share of the flat based on its surrender value – the price at which a flat is sold back to the HDB. The price was $352,925, lower than the purchase price.
The High Court, in the test case, held that the flat be valued at the prevailing market price, as the former wife would otherwise have an unfair gain in buying out the husband’s share at a lower sum.
I think the takeaway is that if HDB approves one party to own the flat in his / her sole name, that should be the way to go as if the flat is given up and eventually surrendered to HDB, the compensation amount may be at a discount the market price. Of course this applies only when the flat is still under the minimum occupation period.