Plan Your Finances

Plan your finances and work out your budget before you search for a suitable home.

To work out a financial plan, consider the following:

  • Payments that you need to make by using cash and CPF savings
  • The amount of housing loan
  • CPF housing grant

You may use our calculators to estimate your finances and the amount of housing loan you may need for your flat purchase. Read working out your flat budget for more tips on financing a flat purchase.

Cash and CPF savings

There are payments that you need to make at various stages of the flat purchase. Do ensure that you have sufficient funds for all the payments.

Cash payments required

You must pay in cash at the following stages:

Application A non-refundable administrative fee of $10 is payable when you apply for a flat online at our HDB Flat Portal.
Booking of flat

You have to pay an option fee when you book a flat. The amount payable is based on the flat type booked.
Sign Agreement for Lease

You must pay part of the downpayment in cash if you are taking a housing loan from a financial institution (FI) or have insufficient CPF savings.
Key collection

Amount not covered by CPF savings and eligible housing loan amount

You must pay the balance purchase price of the flat during the key collection appointment, after factoring in:

  • Downpayment
  • Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (if any)
  • CPF Ordinary Account savings
  • Eligible housing loan amount

Cash proceeds from disposal of the last flat if you are taking a second HDB housing loan

If you are taking a second HDB housing loan, you need to use part of the cash proceeds from the disposal of an existing or previous flat to pay for your flat purchase, to reduce the loan amount required, for financial prudence.

Resale levy

Second-timer applicants are required to pay a resale levy for the purchase of a second subsidised flat, before they can collect the keys to the flat.
Others

E.g.:

Other expenses such as furnishings, renovation

Use of CPF savings

The savings in your CPF Ordinary Account (OA) can be used for:

Sign Agreement for Lease

You may use your CPF savings to pay for the downpayment.

If you are taking a housing loan from a financial institution (FI), at least 5% of the downpayment need to be in cash.
Key collection You may use your CPF savings to pay for the balance purchase price.
Monthly Payments of Mortgage Instalments The monthly payments will start after the resale completion.

Retention of up to $20,000 in CPF OA

Flat buyers taking a housing loan from HDB have the option of retaining up to $20,000 of the available CPF savings in each buyer's OA. The remaining balance in the CPF OA must be used to pay for the flat purchase before they can take an HDB housing loan. If you need the CPF refund from the sale of your current property to finance the flat purchase during the key collection appointment, please ensure the amount has already been credited to your CPF OA, before you attend the appointment.

Conditions for use of CPF savings

Take note of the following conditions for using your CPF savings:

  • There is a limit on the total amount of CPF savings that can be used for your flat purchase. Once that limit is reached, you will not be able to withdraw more of your CPF savings and must pay the balance flat purchase price and/ or monthly mortgage instalments in cash
  • The total amount of CPF savings that can be used for your flat purchase and/ or paying monthly mortgage instalments will depend on the extent the remaining lease of the flat can cover the youngest buyer up to the age of 95. Details on the use of CPF savings and the applicable limits are shown in the table below:
    Remaining lease of flat is at least 20 years and can cover the youngest buyer up to the age of 95 Applicable limits for CPF usage
    Yes The amount is capped at the lower of the value of flat or price of the flat at the time of purchase.
    No The amount is pro-rated based on the extent the remaining lease of the flat can cover the youngest buyer up to the age of 95. When the allowed CPF amount is used up, buyers will have to pay the balance flat purchase price and/ or monthly mortgage instalments in cash. This will help buyers set aside CPF savings for their housing needs during retirement (e.g. buying a replacement property).

Use CPF Board's housing usage calculator to estimate the amount of CPF savings you can use for your flat purchase, and their home purchase planner to understand how the use of CPF savings for a flat purchase impacts your retirement payouts. For more information on the use of CPF savings, please visit CPF Board’s website.

Housing loan

To finance your flat purchase, you may choose to take a housing loan from HDB or a financial institution (FI) regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

As the purchase of a flat is a long-term commitment and payment of monthly mortgage instalments can stretch up to 25 years or more, it is important to exercise financial prudence so that you can sustain the monthly payments.

Housing loan from HDB

If you wish to take a housing loan from HDB, you need to first obtain an HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter. 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 purchase a new or resale flat, as well as the amount of CPF housing grants and HDB housing loan you are eligible for.

Do take note of the following:

Valid HFE letter

You must obtain a valid HFE letter before you may apply for a flat. Your flat application will be processed based on the HFE letter you submitted. Other HFE letters, whether issued earlier or later, will not be considered.
Household status

Your household’s eligibility for housing subsidies and HDB housing loan is assessed based on the core family nucleus in your HFE letter application, which is formed by the core member(s). Core members refer to the applicant(s) and occupier(s) in an HFE letter application who enable the applicant(s) to qualify for a flat purchase under an eligibility scheme. All core members must remain in the flat application, and physically reside in the flat continuously during the minimum occupation period (MOP) immediately after the legal completion of the flat purchase. Their names cannot be removed.

You and all core members must not have taken 2 or more housing loans from HDB.

Second HDB housing loan

If you are taking a second HDB housing loan, the eligible loan amount will be granted only after paying for the flat purchase with the CPF refund and part of the cash proceeds received from the disposal of your current or last owned flat/ property.

Retaining up to $20,000 CPF savings in the Ordinary Account (OA)

You and the co-applicant(s) may each retain up to $20,000 CPF savings in the Ordinary Account (OA). The rest of the available CPF OA balances must be used to pay for the flat purchase.

Remaining lease of flat

You may apply for an HDB housing loan up to a Loan-to-Value (LTV) limit of 75%, if the remaining lease of the flat at the point of flat application can cover the youngest core member to the age of 95 and above. Otherwise, the LTV limit will be pro-rated from 75%.

You may use CPF Board's housing usage calculator to compute the amount of CPF Ordinary Account savings you can use for your flat purchase. You can also calculate your estimated housing budget and obtain housing loan estimates from HDB.

If you have booked a flat with HDB, you will be provided with a customised financial plan, which will include the applicable LTV limit (if you are taking an HDB housing loan) and the payments required at the various milestones of your flat purchase.
Refinancing to housing loan from Financial Institution (FI)

You may refinance the HDB housing loan for your flat with a housing loan from an FI.

If you are not eligible for a housing loan from HDB but need financing for your flat purchase, please obtain a loan from an FI.

Housing loan from financial institutions

You may choose to finance your flat purchase with a housing loan from the FIs regulated by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). View and compare housing loan packages offered by the participating FIs on the HDB Flat Portal.

Check the key terms and considerations in taking up a housing loan from the FIs before deciding. You can calculate your estimated housing budget and obtain housing loan estimates from the FIs.

When applying for an HFE letter on the My Flat Dashboard, you may also apply for an In-Principle Approval (IPA) from the participating FIs, which will provide you with a preliminary assessment of your housing loan eligibility. Before you sign the Agreement for Lease, you may request to convert your IPA into a Letter of Offer via the HDB Flat Portal.

Do take note of the following:

Valid Letter of Offer (LO) You must have a valid LO before signing the Agreement for Lease for a new flat or exercising the Option to Purchase for a resale flat.
Refinancing of housing loan from Financial Institution (FI)

When you take a housing loan from an FI, you may refinance it with a housing loan from the same or different FI, but not from HDB.

CPF housing grant

You may be eligible to receive an Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) to help with the flat purchase.

Read our eligibility conditions to find out if you are eligible for an EHG. The housing grant can be used for the downpayment and to reduce the required housing loan amount.