Housing and development board flats, trust and other equitable doctrines

• Main Author: TANG, Hang Wu
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2012
• Subjects: equity; HDB; property; land; law; public housing; Singapore; Asian Studies; Housing Law; Property Law and Real Estate
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2310; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4262/viewcontent/2012_24_SAcLJ_470_498_HDBFlatsTrusts_HWTang.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Although 85% of the population of Singapore reside in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats, this area of the law remains largely under investigated. A perennially contentious issue is the complex interplay between equitable doctrines and the Housing and Development Act. In this article, the author reviews the jurisprudence pertaining to express trust, resulting trust and common intention constructive trust and the HDB flat. This article will also examine the applicability of other equitable doctrines such as donatio mortis causa and proprietary estoppel in relation to the HDB flat. In particular, this article will explore the applicability of the common intention constructive trust and proprietary estoppel in providing a potential remedy to disinherited wives and caregivers.