Housing Loan from HDB

If you need financing to buy or take over ownership of a flat, you may apply for a housing loan from HDB or one from the financial institutions. Understand the key terms and considerations for the different loan options before making a decision.

Find out the eligibility conditions, credit assessment criteria and important information on the HDB housing loan below.

Eligibility conditions

Check if you and all persons listed in the application meet the eligibility conditions.

You may also complete the questionnaire for a preliminary assessment of your eligibility for the purchase of a new or resale flat, housing grant(s), and an HDB housing loan.

Citizenship At least 1 buyer is a Singapore Citizen
Household status

All applicants and essential occupiers# listed in the application:

  • Have not previously taken 2 or more housing loans from HDB
  • Have taken 1 housing loan from HDB and the last owned property is not a local or overseas private residential property (refer to details on private property ownership)

Intended flat purchase for the following profiles:

  • Seniors aged 55 and above: you are not applying for a short-lease 2-room Flexi flat or Community Care Apartment
  • Singles: you are at least 35 years old and buying one of the following:
    • 2-room Flexi flat on 99 year-lease from HDB in non-mature estates; or
    • 5-room or smaller resale flat

# An essential occupier is a family member who has enabled the applicant(s) to qualify to buy a flat. They do not have ownership of the flat and must remain in the flat application, as well as during the minimum occupation period (MOP) after the flat purchase.
Monthly household income ceiling

Your average gross monthly household income must not exceed:

  • $14,000 for families
  • $21,000 for extended families (refer to the guide for more details)
  • $7,000 for singles buying under the Single Singapore Citizen (SSC) Scheme

Refer to our income guidelines to find out the assessment criteria and required documents based on your employment type.
Ownership/ interest in property in Singapore or overseas other than HDB flat All applicants and essential occupiers listed in the application:
  • Must not own or have an interest in any local or overseas private residential property^;
  • Must not have disposed of any private residential property^ in the last 30 months before the application for an HLE letter; and
  • Must not own more than 1 market/ hawker stall or commercial/ industrial property
    • If you own only 1 market/ hawker stall or commercial/ industrial property, you must be operating the business there, and have no other sources of income.

^ Private properties include but are not limited to houses, buildings, land, Executive Condominium (EC) units and privatised HUDC flats. You have acquired an interest in a property through purchase or when it is:

  • Acquired by gift;
  • Inherited as a beneficiary under a will or from the Intestate Succession Act; or
  • Owned, acquired, or disposed of through nominees.
Remaining lease of the flat

The loan amount will depend on the extent the remaining lease can cover the youngest buyer to the age of 95 and above.

Use the payment plan calculator to find out the payments required at various milestones to buy a new or resale flat, and check that you have sufficient budget before committing to a flat purchase.

Remaining Lease of Flat is More Than 20 Years and Covers Youngest Buyer to Age of Loan-to-Value (LTV) Limit* Loan Period
95 years or more

New flat: Up to 80%^ of the purchase price.

Resale flat: Up to 80%^ of the lower of the resale price and value.

Shortest of:

  • 25 years;
  • 65 years minus the average age of the buyers; and
  • Remaining lease at the point of flat application minus 20 years.
Less than 95 years A lower loan limit pro-rated from 80%^, based on the extent the remaining lease can cover the youngest buyer to the age of 95 and above.

* The LTV limit refers to the maximum amount of housing loan a flat buyer may take up, expressed as a percentage of the lower of the flat price and value of the flat.

^ For flat applications submitted on or after 30 Sep 2022.

Flat buyers who have booked a new flat or submitted a resale application will be provided with a customised financial plan, which will include the applicable LTV limit at point of flat application (if they are taking an HDB housing loan), and the payments required at the various milestones of their flat purchase.

Conditions when taking a second HDB housing loan

In addition to meeting the above eligibility conditions, your second HDB housing loan amount will be reduced by the full CPF refund and part of the cash proceeds from the disposal* of the existing or last-owned HDB flat. This promotes financial prudence and prevents over-borrowing.

* The manner of disposal of a flat includes the sale, transfer or surrender of a flat, or by any other method under the Housing and Development Act or any other written law.

 

To apply for a second HDB housing loan, you have to meet the following requirements:

At Point of Flat Purchase  Conditions to Take a Second HDB Housing Loan
You have disposed of the existing flat and do not own any HDB flat

You and the essential occupier have to use up to 50% of the cash proceeds from the disposal of the last-owned HDB flat.

You may retain up to $20,000 in your CPF Ordinary Account (OA) and use the remaining balance in your OA to buy the flat.
You are buying an HDB flat before disposing of the existing one

You will be charged commercial interest rate (pegged to the average non-promotional interest rate for HDB flats offered by the 3 local FIs+) for the housing loan to buy the next flat.

The interest rate will be converted to the concessionary rate after you have disposed of the existing flat, and used the CPF refund and up to 50% of the cash proceeds from the disposal to reduce the housing loan amount for the next flat. From the CPF monies refunded, you may retain up to $20,000 in your CPF OA.
+ The three local FIs are DBS Bank Limited, Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited, and United Overseas Bank Limited.
Additional information on cash proceeds:
  • HDB reserves the right to determine the amount of proceeds to be used, either by taking into account the manner of holding of the existing/ last-owned HDB flat, or according to any court order that provides for the disposal/ division of the flat.
  • Generally, flat buyers can keep the greater of $25,000 or 50% of the cash proceeds (including the cash deposit received). HDB will take into account the remaining cash proceeds when determining the second HDB housing loan amount.

Use the sale proceeds calculator to work out how much cash proceeds you need to use for your flat purchase. Be sure to secure sufficient financing before committing to sell your current flat or buy another one.

What happens if I do not meet the eligibility conditions?

You have to take a housing loan from an FI if you need mortgage financing and one of the following applies to you:

  • You and/ or the essential occupiers listed in the application are not eligible to apply for an HDB housing loan
  • You are buying a unit from a property developer under the Executive Condominium Housing Scheme

Credit assessment criteria

Find out if you meet our assessment criteria.

Besides meeting the eligibility conditions, flat buyers have to fulfil our credit assessment criteria to apply for an HDB housing loan.

credit-assesment-criteria

You may apply for an HDB Loan Eligibility (HLE) letter to check your loan eligibility. Do take some time to build up your finances and work records if you do not meet the credit assessment criteria for an HDB housing loan.

Application for an HDB housing loan

What you need to know about the HDB Loan Eligibility (HLE) letter and when to apply for one.

If you wish to take an HDB housing loan to buy or take over ownership of a flat, you have to first apply for an HLE letter before committing to the flat purchase.

Find out more about the HLE letter, when and where to apply.

Details on the HDB housing loan

Understand the considerations that determine your housing loan amount.

The HDB housing loan amount that you may take and repay over the loan period is based on the following:

Flat buyers’ financial situation

Financial ability of flat buyers to service the mortgage instalments, to ensure that they do not borrow beyond their means.

This is based on flat buyers':

  • Age
  • Monthly income
  • Job stability
  • Current loans and financial commitments (e.g., credit card bills, car loans) 
  • Past repayment records
  • Monthly cash savings

Note:

  • The applicant must be employed in the month of application and remain gainfully employed when HDB disburses the housing loan.
  • If you are buying an uncompleted flat from HDB, we will review your financial position nearer the completion of the flat before we disburse the housing loan. This is to confirm that there is no adverse change in your ability to service the housing loan, otherwise the loan amount may be reduced.
Repayment period

Capped at whichever is shortest:

  • 25 years;
  • Up till the buyer is 65 years old; and
  • Remaining lease of the flat minus 20 years.
Applicable interest rate

To encourage flat buyers to borrow prudently, HDB uses the higher of the following to compute an eligible housing loan amount:

  • Interest rate floor (currently at  3.0% per annum); and
  • Prevailing HDB housing loan interest rate.
Prevailing HDB housing loan interest rate
 Concessionary interest rate Pegged at 0.1%-point above the prevailing CPF Ordinary Account interest rate and reviewed quarterly.
Commercial interest rate where charged, for flat buyers taking a second HDB housing loan and buying an HDB flat before disposing of their existing one

Pegged to the average non-promotional interest rates for HDB flats offered by the three local financial institutions, subject to a minimum of the concessionary interest rate.

The interest rate will be converted to the concessionary rate after the flat buyer has disposed of the existing flat and used the CPF refund and 50% of the cash proceeds received to reduce the second HDB housing loan amount.

Read more on the conditions to take a second HDB housing loan.

The interest payable on the HDB housing loan is computed on a monthly-rest basis or such other basis as HDB may decide. Find out more on the interest rate.
Monthly instalments Capped at 30% of the buyers’ monthly income
Loan-to-Value (LTV) Limit

Refers to the maximum amount of housing loan a flat buyer may take up, expressed as a percentage of the lower of the flat price and value of the flat.

New flats Resale flats
LTV limit Up to 80%^ of the flat purchase price Up to 80%^ of the lower of the resale price and value
Conditions

If the remaining lease of the flat does not cover the youngest buyer to the age of 95 and above at the point of flat application, the LTV limit will be pro-rated from 80%

^For flat applications submitted on or after 30 Sep 2022.

Flat buyers who have booked a flat with HDB or submitted a resale application will be provided with a customised financial plan, which will include the applicable LTV limit at point of flat application (if they are taking an HDB housing loan), and the payments required at the various milestones of their flat purchase.

Use of CPF savings

Find out the requirements on the use of CPF savings for your flat purchase and for servicing the monthly instalments.

Buyers/ transferees have the option to:

  • Retain up to $20,000 of the available savings in each of their CPF Ordinary Account (OA)
  • Use the savings in their CPF OA to pay the stamp fee, registration fee, legal fees, and premium for the CPF Home Protection Insurance (if applicable)

The remaining balance in your CPF OA must be used to pay for the flat purchase or take over ownership of an existing flat, before the HDB housing loan can be granted.

The total amount of CPF savings that can be used to buy or take over the flat and pay the monthly mortgage instalments will depend on:

  • Extent that the remaining lease of the flat can cover the youngest buyer or transferee up to the age of 95; and
  • Applicable CPF usage limits for the purchase of:

When the allowed CPF amount is used up, you have to pay for the balance purchase price and/ or the monthly mortgage instalments in cash.

For more information on the use of CPF savings, you may use CPF Board’s calculator.

Servicing the HDB housing loan

Find out more about the monthly repayment and how to save on interest payments.

Monthly repayment

Upon disbursement of the HDB housing loan, your first monthly instalment payment will start on the first day of the second month. Thereafter, your monthly instalments are due and payable on the first day of every month, until the housing loan is redeemed.

You can use your cash and/ or CPF savings to pay the monthly instalments, subject to the prevailing rules of CPF Board. If you choose to use cash instead of CPF savings, you can grow your retirement fund steadily with CPF interest rates. Find out more on the monthly repayment.

Save on interest payments

Why pay more

A smaller housing loan and paying it off early will give you greater financial flexibility for your other goals (e.g. building up retirement funds, investments, etc.).

To reduce your financial commitments and save on interest payments, you can also make regular partial payments or early repayment of your housing loan, or shorten your repayment period. Your monthly instalment will be adjusted accordingly. Find out more on servicing your HDB housing loan.

Insurance for HDB housing loan

The insurance policies will protect you and your loved ones in the event of any unforeseen circumstances.

If you take an HDB housing loan to buy or take over ownership of a flat, you will have to buy these insurance policies:

The HDB fire insurance covers the cost of reinstating damaged internal structures, fixtures and areas built and provided by HDB. As it does not include home contents such as furniture, renovations and personal belongings, you are encouraged to buy additional home insurance from any insurer if you wish to go further to extend protection over your home contents. Find out more about the HDB Fire Insurance Policy.

For those who are not taking a housing loan, you are also encouraged to buy a fire and home insurance for your flat. You can do so from any insurer.

The Home Protection Scheme is a mortgage-reducing insurance scheme administered by the CPF Board. It insures CPF members and their families against losing their home, should the policy holder become permanently incapacitated or pass away before the housing loan is paid up.