Immovable property in Singapore like homes, are legally held in either joint tenancy or tenancy-in-common. When an immovable property is purchased, or its ownership transferred, a decision is made regarding the manner in which the property will be held. How the immovable property is held will be recorded in the Singapore Land Authority’s (SLA’s) registry. 

Joint Tenancy vs. Tenancy-in-Common

A property held in joint tenancy is jointly held by owners who have a whole interest in the property. There are no other shares owned by anyone else. A property held as tenants-in-common is owned by the tenants who have separate and definite shares in the property. 

The result of a property being held in joint tenancy is that there exists the right of survivorship. If a joint tenant dies, the tenant who survives takes over sole ownership of the entire property. This applies even if the deceased joint tenant has a Will, and it also doesn’t matter whether they wanted the surviving owner to inherit the property. 

On the other hand, with a property held in tenancy-in-common there is no right of survivorship since each tenant/owner holds their distinct shares separately. When one of them dies, the surviving tenant(s) are only entitled to the shares they already have in the property. But how a property is held does not impact mortgage loans because repaying the loan is a joint and several financial liability of the borrowers. 

The main drawback of a tenancy-in-common is that current co-owners have no right to object to new co-owners buying in. Each co-owner has the right to sell their share(s) to a third party. This can lead to arguments between current and new co-owners if they are unable to agree on things.  

Converting the Manner in Which a Property is Being Held

A property being held in joint tenancy can be converted to a tenancy-in-common. However, in severing a joint tenancy you can only convert it to a tenancy-in-common if the shares are equally divided. For example, if there are two joint owners, they will each hold a 50% share once the property is converted to a tenancy-in-common. 

It works the other way as well because a property held in tenants-in-common can be changed to a joint tenancy, but only if each tenant agrees to everyone having equal shares. Property owners who are thinking about converting the manner in which their property is held need to know they might have to transfer a portion of their interest to another co-owner/tenant. When the transfer is done a stamp duty must be paid. 

Furthermore, if there is a mortgage on the property, you may be required to obtain permission from the bank the loan is with before converting the manner in which the property is held. 

To convert the manner in which a property is held, it is required that the appropriate Instrument of Declaration be lodged and registered with the Singapore Land Authority. The current tenants (joint tenants or tenants-in-common) are required to go before a Commissioner for Oaths to sign a statutory declaration. This will state their intention to convert the manner in which their property is held to either joint tenants or tenants-in-common, whatever the case may be. 

Once all the tenants have agreed to the conversion, they will all be required to sign the same form, which will then be lodged and registered. 

However, if one of the joint tenants wants to convert the manner in which their property is held to tenants-in-common, but they cannot get the other joint tenant(s) to agree, there is a process for moving this forward. The willing tenant must sign the declaration themselves, which will state his/her intention to convert the manner in which the property is held from joint-tenancy to tenants-in common. 

Then, a solicitor will have to duly serve the Instrument of Declaration on the other joint tenant(s). The process for carrying out the conversion are quite complicated, so a property lawyer should be hired to handle the matter from that point on. 

For an HDB property, you can get help from HDB to change the manner in which the property is held. For further information, visit HDB’s website.

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