In particular, the ABSD remains in place, which means developers still have to develop and sell all the residential units within five years, failing which they will be subject to the ABSD charges. The ABSD penalty, which was raised from 15% to 30% in July 2018 (of which 5% is non-remittable), is more onerous compared to the QC penalty. The timeline is also shorter: five years compared to seven years for QC.

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Under the Residential Property Act, foreign residential property developers which purchase private residential land for development have to apply for QC. A QC holder will have to complete a residential project within five years and sell all the units within two years of completion. Failing to sell out the project would mean incurring extension charges of of 8%, 16% and 24% for the first to third years respectively. However, the extension charges are prorated according to the balance unsold units.


CDL, for example, is developing the 592-unit Amber Park with Hong Realty, a unit of its parent company, the privately held Hong Leong Holdings. The project is a redevelopment of a condo of the same name which the joint venture purchased en bloc in October 2017 and launched in May 2019. “[Amber Park] may stand to benefit from this change,” says CDL.