Application

We will announce the following details of the flats offered for sale in the HDB Flat Portal:

  • Location
  • Indicative prices
  • Preliminary designs
  • The number of units of flats offered

If you wish to be notified of the sales exercises, please subscribe to HDB eAlerts .

You must have a valid HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter before you may apply for a flat in our sales exercises. The HFE letter will provide you with a holistic understanding of your housing and financing options before you embark on your home buying journey. It will inform you upfront of your eligibility to buy a new or resale flat, as well as the amounts of CPF housing grants and HDB housing loan you are eligible for. Read our frequently asked questions on the HFE letter.

You may read our frequently asked questions on sales exercises. After a sales exercise is announced, you can apply for a flat online at the HDB Flat Portal during the application period. An non-refundable administrative fee of $10 (inclusive of GST) per application is payable by credit card (MasterCard/ Visa) or scanning the QR code using any of the supporting mobile payment apps.

At the end of the application period, HDB will place all eligible applications through a computerised ballot to determine the queue order to book the flats. For first-timer families, as their flat allocation quota is at least a specified percentage, they can receive queue numbers bigger than the flat supply set aside for them. HDB will inform all applicants of the outcome of their application. You may check the status of your application when the ballot result is announced.

Priority schemes

We have several priority schemes to help different groups of flat buyers with their housing needs.

For first-timer applicants and those with more urgent housing needs, there are priority schemes in place to enhance your chances in the computer ballot for flats offered in the Build-To-Order (BTO) and Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) sales exercises. Read more about the various priority schemes.

Fresh Start Housing Scheme

The Fresh Start Housing Scheme provides families with young children living in public rental housing with an opportunity to own a home again.

The Fresh Start Housing Scheme integrates financial assistance with personal responsibility and social support, and aims to help families with young children, who live in public rental flats, to own a 2-room Flexi or 3-room flat on shorter lease.

Find out on the Fresh Start Housing Scheme.

Application status

Check the status and results of your flat application, as well as the number of applications received.

No. of Applications Received Application Status/ Results
Build-To-Order Exercise

You will receive an email notification to log in to the HDB Flat Portal to check the ballot results within 2 months after the application period has closed. The timeline to release the ballot results is dependent on the sales exercise and flat supply.

For flat applications made before May 2023, you can check the application status via My HDBPage.
  
 
Sale of Balance Flats Exercise

If you have been invited to select a flat, you may check out the flats available for selection.

Changes to flat application

Cancellation procedures and financial forfeiture may apply if there are changes.

Flat applications are only valid if there are no changes to the household particulars and financial circumstances. Cancellation procedures and financial forfeitures may apply if there are changes to the flat application that may render you ineligible to continue with the flat purchase.

Changes to Stage of flat application
During sales exercise After sales exercise
Correspondence address, contact details or priority scheme request (if applicable)

You can log in to My Flat Dashboard to make the changes, if applicable.
Town or flat type applied for

You must cancel your existing flat application and re-apply online during the sales exercise application period with the payment of an administrative fee of $10 (inclusive of GST).

You cannot change the town/ flat type you applied for.
Household particulars or financial circumstances

All details of the household in the flat application must be the same as the approved HFE letter.

For any changes in household particulars or financial circumstances, such as income, you must cancel both your HFE letter and flat application, and apply for a fresh HFE letter (i.e. complete Step 1 - Check Preliminary HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) and Step 2 - Apply for HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter of the buying process again) by logging in to the HDB Flat Portal.

As an HFE letter application takes about a month to process after HDB receives all the required documents, you would not be able to apply for a flat in the ongoing sales exercise.

Please contact us via MyRequest@HDB. If the changes render you ineligible to continue with the flat purchase, your flat application and the HFE letter that was used for the flat application will be cancelled. The usual financial forfeitures and consequences upon the cancellation of the flat application will apply, depending on the stage of the application.

Cancellation of flat application

Financial forfeitures and consequences for current and future applications apply when you cancel your flat application at various stages of the application.

If you wish to cancel your flat application after the sales exercise application period, please make a request via MyRequest@HDB. However, requests received before the release of ballot results cannot be processed, and your application will be included in the computer ballot. The relevant forfeitures and consequences of the cancellation will apply, depending on the stage of your flat application.

Please note that once a flat application is cancelled, it cannot be reinstated. If you cancel your flat application after you have booked a flat, your HFE letter that was used for the flat application will also be cancelled.

Financial forfeitures and consequences after cancellation

Stage of Application Financial Forfeiture Consequences
During sales exercise Nil

There will be no penalty if the flat application is cancelled during the sales exercise application period.

You can log in to the HDB Flat Portal > My Flat Dashboard to cancel your flat application instantaneously before the end of the application period.
After sales exercise but before booking a flat Nil

Your flat application will be included in the computer ballot and assigned a queue position, where applicable.

If your queue position is within the flat supply, you will not be eligible to apply for a flat in the subsequent BTO/ SBF exercises until after your flat booking appointment.

If you had been invited to book a flat but did not do so even though there were units available, you have rejected a chance to book a flat. You will incur a non-selection count and all your ongoing flat application(s) will be cancelled.

First-timer families
including those under the First-Timer (Parents & Married Couples) category
  • With 1 non-selection count, your subsequent flat applications will be placed in the second-timer category for a 1-year period
  • Any additional ballot chances accumulated from your previous unsuccessful BTO applications for Standard flats will be set to 0
  • Your first-timer priority will be further suspended for another year if you accumulate another non-selection count during the 1-year period
First-timer singles and second-timer families After incurring 1 non-selection count, you will not be able to participate in any sales exercises for a 1-year period.

Nevertheless, there may be situations when flat applicants are left with limited choices when they are due to book a flat. HDB will waive the non-selection count for applicants with 10 or fewer BTO flats to choose from; or 5 or fewer SBF flats to choose from.

HDB flats are heavily subsidised and in demand. We strongly encourage flat applicants to consider carefully before they apply for a new flat, and book a flat when they are able to do so.
After booking a flat but before signing the Agreement for Lease Option fee

You must wait out a 1-year period from the date of cancellation of the flat application and ensure the full forfeiture fee has been paid before you may apply or be included as an essential occupier for:

  • A new flat
  • A resale flat with CPF housing grant(s)
  • A Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flat from the property developer
  • An Executive Condominium (EC) unit from property developer
  • A resale flat that has been announced for Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS)
  • A rental flat from HDB

For first-timer families: Any additional ballot chances accumulated from your previous unsuccessful BTO applications for Standard flats will be set to 0.
After signing the Agreement for Lease but before key collection 5% of the purchase price[1]
[1] Upon cancellation of a flat application, HDB or your solicitor may assist you by applying to IRAS for a refund of the stamp duty paid. Please note that the legal fees have been expended and are non-refundable.