Conveyancing Lawyers in Singapore
Buying or selling a home is the largest transaction most people ever sign. We handle the legal side of it on a fixed fee you know before we start, whether it is an HDB resale flat, a condominium or a landed property.
Clear, predictable conveyancing fees.
What these fees assume
All matters
- A completed property. Buildings under construction, including units bought from a developer, are quoted separately
- One property, in a single transaction
- Buyers or sellers acting in their own names, rather than through a company or a trust
- Any loan on the lender's usual terms, with our firm on the lender's panel
- All documents in English, with no translation required
- No dispute between the parties, and no litigation arising from the transaction
HDB matters
- A straightforward sale or purchase through the HDB Resale Portal
- No decoupling, part share transfer or other change of ownership
Private property
- A resale purchase or sale, rather than a purchase directly from a developer
- No en bloc sale, subdivision or amalgamation
How long does conveyancing take in Singapore?
- Day one The Option to Purchase The seller grants the buyer an exclusive right to buy at an agreed price within an agreed window, and the buyer pays an option fee for it. This is the document worth reading properly, because it fixes almost everything that follows.
- 14 to 21 days Exercising the Option The buyer signs and returns the Option with the balance of the deposit. From that moment there is a binding contract, and backing out generally means losing the deposit.
- Within 14 days Stamp duty falls due Buyer's stamp duty, and additional buyer's stamp duty where it applies, is payable within fourteen days of the document being signed in Singapore. We tell you the figure before you commit, not after.
- 8 to 12 weeks Completion The balance of the price moves between the solicitors, the keys are released and the transfer is registered. What you should feel on completion day is very little, which is rather the point.
Eight to twelve weeks from the Option being exercised is the usual shape of a private resale. HDB runs to its own schedule, and completion is normally about eight weeks after HDB accepts the resale application.
Why work with JCP Law on your conveyancing
Most people meet a conveyancing lawyer two or three times in their life, and always at a moment when a great deal of money is already committed. What you want at that point is a fixed number, a clear sequence and somebody who answers the phone.
- Our fees are published above and fixed before we start, with the search fees, registration fees and mortgage stamp fee already inside them
- We act on HDB resale flats, condominiums, apartments and landed homes, on both the buying and the selling side
- We act for the bank as well as for you where your lender allows it, which keeps one firm across the whole file
- Where a matter falls outside the assumptions behind a fixed fee, you get the figure in writing before any work begins
What is conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of property from one party to another. In practice it means reviewing the contract, running the searches that reveal anything the title does not show on its face, meeting the deadlines that carry real consequences if missed, and moving the money safely on the day.
It sounds procedural, and most of the time it is. The value sits in the small number of moments where it is not: a clause in the Option that quietly shifts risk, a search result that changes what you are buying, a lender whose funds are not where they should be on completion morning.
Buying or selling an HDB resale flat
HDB resale runs on its own timetable and its own paperwork, and it is the half of the market where the rules are least intuitive.
The Option to Purchase is HDB’s own form, with a 21 day option period. The option fee is capped, and so is the amount the buyer can pay to exercise. Once both sides have submitted their halves of the resale application through the HDB Resale Portal, HDB verifies eligibility, and completion normally follows around eight weeks after the application is accepted.
We act for buyers and sellers throughout: reviewing the Option before you sign it, confirming your CPF position and the outstanding loan, preparing and filing the documents, dealing with your bank, and attending to completion.
Where a flat forms part of an estate rather than an ordinary sale, the rules are different again, and our article on HDB inheritance rules in Singapore sets out how they work.
Buying or selling private property
For condominiums, apartments and landed homes the shape is familiar but the documents are not standardised the way HDB’s are. The Option to Purchase is drafted for the transaction, usually with a 14 day option period, and its terms are genuinely negotiable.
We review the Option before you commit to it, raise requisitions with the relevant authorities, check the title, calculate the stamp duty exposure including additional buyer’s stamp duty where it bites, and complete against your lender’s requirements.
The fees published above are for completed properties. A building still under construction, including a unit bought from a developer at launch, works differently: the price is paid down in stages against the developer’s progress, the contract is the developer’s own, and the work runs over years rather than weeks. We act on those too, and quote them separately.
Where a purchase starts with a letter of intent rather than an Option, our guide to the letter of intent in property transactions explains what that document does and does not commit you to.
Refinancing your home loan
Refinancing has no seller, no buyer and no keys, which is why it costs less. It still needs a solicitor, because the existing mortgage has to be discharged and the new one registered, and because your CPF position has to be dealt with correctly.
We act for you and, where the lender permits, for the incoming bank as well. Our fee for refinancing an HDB resale flat is S$1,500, all in.
The conveyancing process, step by step
Step 1: Before you sign anything
Send us the Option to Purchase or the draft contract. We read it before you are bound by it, which is the single cheapest point at which a problem can be fixed.
Step 2: Exercising the Option
We confirm the deposit is correct and properly held, and that the completion date works with your loan, your CPF and, if you are moving, the other end of the chain.
Step 3: Searches and requisitions
We lodge requisitions with the authorities and run the title searches. This is where road line proposals, drainage reserves and encumbrances surface. The fees for all of it are inside our quoted price.
Step 4: Stamp duty
We calculate what is payable, including additional buyer’s stamp duty where it applies, and attend to payment within the deadline. Stamp duty is paid to IRAS and sits outside our fee.
Step 5: Loan and CPF
We work with your bank’s requirements and, where you are using CPF savings, with the Board’s, so that the funds are cleared and in place ahead of the day rather than on it.
Step 6: Completion
Money moves between the solicitors, keys are released, and the transfer and mortgage are lodged for registration. Afterwards we send you the completion statement and the documents you will need to keep.
What sits outside our fee
Our fee is all in for the legal work, including the search and registration fees and the mortgage stamp fee where one applies. What it does not include are the sums payable to somebody other than us: buyer’s stamp duty and additional buyer’s stamp duty, seller’s stamp duty where it arises, CPF charges, and any fees your bank or HDB charges you directly. We set those out for you as figures, in advance, so there is nothing to discover late. The fees also assume a completed property, so a purchase of a unit still under construction is quoted on its own terms.
Commercial and industrial property
Shophouses, offices, industrial units and investment purchases are quoted per transaction rather than from the table above, and they raise questions residential deals do not: financing terms, regulatory approvals from URA, SLA and BCA, and the treatment of existing tenancies. Our commercial conveyancing page covers that work, and for landlord and tenant matters see sale and leasing.
Conveyancing in Singapore: frequently asked questions
How much does a conveyancing lawyer cost in Singapore?
Our fees are S$2,200 for an HDB resale purchase, S$1,800 for an HDB resale sale, S$1,500 for HDB refinancing, S$2,500 for a private residential purchase and S$2,000 for a private residential sale. Each is all in: the search fees, the registration fees and the mortgage stamp fee where one applies are already inside the figure rather than added afterwards. Landed property is quoted on request. Stamp duty is paid to IRAS and is separate.
Do these fees apply to a new launch or a property under construction?
No. The published fees are for completed properties. A purchase from a developer of a unit still being built is paid in stages as construction progresses, on the developer’s own contract, and it runs for years rather than weeks, so it is quoted separately. Send us the details and you will have a fixed figure in writing before anything begins.
How long does conveyancing take?
For a private resale, usually eight to twelve weeks from the Option being exercised, though the completion date is whatever the contract says it is and can be brought forward or pushed back by agreement. For an HDB resale, completion normally falls around eight weeks after HDB accepts the resale application, so the pace is set by HDB rather than by the parties.
When do I have to pay stamp duty?
Buyer’s stamp duty, and additional buyer’s stamp duty where it applies, is payable within fourteen days of the document being signed in Singapore. Late payment attracts a penalty. We calculate the amount for you before you commit to the purchase, so it is a known number rather than a surprise.
Can the buyer and the seller use the same lawyer?
No. Buyer and seller have opposing interests, and a solicitor cannot act for both sides of the same sale. What we can often do is act for you and for your bank at the same time, which is where the saving comes from on a purchase.
Do I need a private lawyer for an HDB flat, or can HDB act for me?
HDB will act for buyers in certain resale purchases, on its own conditions. Where you are taking a bank loan, the bank instructs solicitors of its own, and it is usually simpler and cheaper to have one firm acting for both you and the lender across the whole transaction. Sellers, and anyone whose situation is not entirely standard, are generally better served by their own solicitor.
Can I use my CPF to pay the legal fees?
CPF Ordinary Account savings can usually be applied to a property purchase, including stamp duty and legal fees, subject to the Board’s rules and to how much you have available. We confirm your position early, because it changes how much cash you need to have ready at each stage.
What happens if the other side is not ready on completion day?
The contract deals with it, normally through interest on late completion and, if the delay runs on, a notice to complete. It is uncommon, and it is usually a bank rather than a party that causes it. We chase the other solicitors ahead of the date precisely so it does not arise.
Do you act on landed property and en bloc sales?
Yes. Landed homes are quoted on request rather than from the table above, because the title, the tenure and the presence of any subdivision or reconstruction move the work involved. Send us the details and you will have a fixed figure in writing before anything begins.
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