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LAND is scarce in Singapore. There is also scarcity value to using a Singapore citizen’s name when purchasing homes here.

A local buying a first home does not pay any Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD), whereas those buying second homes and third and subsequent units pay ABSD of 20 and 30 per cent, respectively. ABSD is paid in addition to Buyer’s Stamp Duty.

Back in the late 1990s when there was no ABSD, my wife and I bought our first home for owner occupation using both our names when we tied the knot. Jointly owning the matrimonial home was a key step in our transformation from singles to sharing life as a couple.

Today, unsurprisingly, given the tough ABSD regime, numerous newly-weds buy their first home for owner occupation using the sole name of one partner. By doing so, a couple has one spare name to buy an additional home later on without incurring ABSD. In short, a local couple can cost-effectively own two homes under separate names – one for occupation and another to earn rental income.

Sure, local couples cannot be faulted for cleverly structuring their ownership of homes. After all, the difference between paying 20 per cent ABSD and no ABSD on a home costing S$1.5 million amounts to a whopping S$300,000.