Eligibility to Buy

You can use the Eligibility Check for purchase of new or resale HDB flat to do a quick assessment on your eligibility.

 

You have to ensure that you are eligible to buy a resale HDB under one of HDB's Eligibility Schemes.

Eligibility conditions that apply to all schemes

Criteria Details

Income ceiling

None

Note: While there is no income ceiling for buying an HDB resale flat, there are income ceilings for CPF Housing Grants and HDB housing loans.

Ownership/ interest in HDB flats

If you or any persons listed in the application owns an HDB flat, you must dispose of the HDB flat within 6 months of the resale flat purchase

Ownership/ interest in property in Singapore or overseas other than HDB flats

If you or any person listed in your resale flat application owns a private property either locally or overseas, you must dispose of all private properties before or within 6 months of the resale flat purchase

Note: If you own a private property, you are not eligible for a CPF Housing Grant or an HDB housing loan.

 

Public Scheme

Buy an HDB resale flat with your family. For example, with your wife and children, parents and siblings, or children (if you are widowed or divorced).

 

Criteria Details

Citizenship

You must:

  • Be an SC or SPR
  • Include at least 1 listed occupant who is an SC or SPR
  • SPR household (i.e. a SPR household with no SC owner): All SPR owners and essential occupiers will have to wait 3 years from the date of obtaining SPR status before they can buy a resale flat

Age

21 years old or above

Family nucleus

You must form a family nucleus with 1 of the following groups. Your:

  • Spouse and children
  • Parents and siblings
  • Children under your legal custody, care and control (for widowed/ divorced persons)

EIP and SPR quota

In line with the EIP and SPR quota, you will need to check that you are within the proportion/ limit for the block/ neighbourhood

 

Fiancé/Fiancée Scheme

Buy an HDB resale flat with your fiancé or fiancée.

Criteria Details

Citizenship

You and your fiancé or fiancée must be either:

  • SC or SPR
  • SPR household (i.e. a SPR household with no SC owner): All SPR owners and essential occupiers will have to wait 3 years from the date of obtaining SPR status before they can buy a resale flat

Age

21 years old or above

Family nucleus

Your fiancé or fiancée must be listed in the application as either:

  • A co-applicant (if 21 years old or above)
  • An occupant
  • Note: Special conditions apply for fiancé or fiancée below 21 years old

EIP and SPR quota

In line with the EIP and SPR quota, you will need to check that you are within the proportion/ limit for the block/ neighbourhood

Special conditions

You and your fiancé or fiancée must:

  • Register your marriage with the Registry of Civil Marriages or Registry of Muslim Marriages
  • Submit your marriage certificate to HDB within 3 months from resale completion date

If applying for CPF Housing Grant

  • You must submit your marriage certificate on or before the resale completion date

Consent of parents

  • If your fiancé or fiancée is between 18 and 21 years old, his/ her parents must agree to the purchase.

Special Marriage Licence

  • If your fiancé or fiancée is below 18 years old, you need to apply for a Special Marriage Licence from the Ministry of Social and Family Development and submit it to HDB for verification.

Divorcees are required to produce the following for verification:

  • Interim Judgment (previously known as Decree Nisi)
  • Order of Court
  • Final Judgment (previously known as Decree Nisi Absolute)

 

Single Singapore Citizen Scheme

Buy an HDB resale flat as a single. You must be at least 35 years old if you are unmarried or divorced, and at least 21 years old if you are widowed or an orphan.

Criteria Details

Citizenship

You must be an SC

Age

Unmarried or divorced: 35 years old or above

Widowed or an orphan: 21 years old or above

EIP and SPR quota

In line with the EIP and SPR quota, you will need to check that you are within the proportion/ limit for the block/ neighbourhood

Special conditions

For orphans:

  • At least one of your deceased parents must have been an SC or SPR
  • If you are below 35 years old, you must not have another sibling who is below 35 years old buying/ owning another flat under the:
    • ​Orphans Scheme
    • Single Singapore Citizen Scheme
    • Joint Singles Scheme

 

Joint Singles Scheme

2 to 4 singles can jointly buy an HDB resale flat. If you are unmarried or divorced, you must be at least 35 years old. If you are widowed or an orphan, you must be at least 21 years old.

Criteria Details

Citizenship

You and all the co-applicants must be SCs

Age

Unmarried or divorced: 35 years old or above

Widowed or an orphan: 21 years old or above

EIP and SPR quota

In line with the EIP and SPR quota, you will need to check that you are within the proportion/ limit for the block/ neighbourhood

Special conditions

The flat must be bought jointly, i.e. each single SC must be listed as a co-applicant

For orphans:

  • At least one of your deceased parents must have been an SC or SPR
  • If you are below 35 years old, you must not have another sibling who is below 35 years old buying/ owning another flat under the:
    • ​Orphans Scheme
    • Single Singapore Citizen Scheme
    • Joint Singles Scheme

 

Non-Citizen Spouse Scheme

If your spouse is not a SC or SPR, you can buy a HDB resale flat under the Non-Citizen Spouse Scheme.

Criteria Details

Citizenship

You must be an SC

Age

If you are 21 years old or above

  • Your spouse must have a Long Term Visit Pass or Work Pass. The pass must be valid for at least 6 months and valid at the time you submit your application to buy a resale flat.

If you are 35 years old or above

  • Your spouse must have a Visit Pass or Work Pass. The pass can have a validity period of less than 6 months. However, it must be valid at the time you submit your application to buy a resale flat.

Note: If the Visit Pass or Work Pass expires during the transaction to buy a resale flat, it must be renewed and valid by the time of your resale flat purchase completion date.

Family nucleus

Your non-citizen spouse must be listed in the application as an occupier

EIP and SPR quota

In line with the EIP and SPR quota, you will need to check that you are within the proportion/ limit for the block/ neighbourhood

 

Non-Citizen Family Scheme

If you are a single SC and your family members (e.g. parents) are not SCs or SPRs, you can buy a HDB resale flat under the Non-Citizen Family Scheme.

Criteria Details

Citizenship

You must be an SC

Age

21 years old or above

Family nucleus

You must form a family nucleus with 1 of the following groups:

  • Your parents and siblings (if any)
  • Children under your legal custody, care and control (for widowed/ divorced persons)

At least 1 parent/ child must have a valid Long Term Visit Pass or Work Pass. The pass must be valid for at least 6 months and valid at the time you submit your application to buy a resale flat.

Note:If the Visit Pass or Work Pass expires during the transaction to buy a resale flat, it must be renewed and valid by the time of your resale flat purchase completion date.

EIP and SPR quota

In line with the EIP and SPR quota, you will need to check that you are within the proportion/ limit for the block/ neighbourhood

 

Orphans Scheme

If you and your sibling(s) are orphans and single, you can jointly buy a HDB resale flat.

Criteria Details

Citizenship

You must:

  • Be an SC
  • Include at least 1 unmarried SC or SPR sibling as a co-applicant or occupant in your application

Age

21 years old or above

EIP and SPR quota

In line with the EIP and SPR quota, you will need to check that you are within the proportion/ limit for the block/ neighbourhood

Special conditions

Your application must comprise yourself (an unmarried orphan) and your unmarried sibling(s)

At least one of your deceased parents must have been an SC or SPR

If you are below 35 years old, you must not have another sibling who is below 35 years old buying/ owning another flat under the:

  • Orphans Scheme
  • Single Singapore Citizen Scheme
  • Joint Singles Scheme

 

Conversion Scheme

Subject to approval, the Conversion Scheme allows you and your family to buy adjoining flats that are 3-room or smaller and convert them into 1 unit.

You can buy 2 adjoining 3-room or smaller flats, or buy the 3-room or smaller flat that is adjoined to your currently owned 3-room or smaller flat.

Criteria Details

Citizenship

You must:

  • Be an SC or SPR
  • Include at least 1 listed occupant who is an SC or SPR

Age

21 years old or above

Family nucleus

You must form a family nucleus with 1 of the following groups:

  • Your spouse and children (if any)
  • Your parents and siblings (if any)
  • Children under your legal custody, care and control (for widowed/ divorced persons)

EIP and SPR quota

Option 1 (Buy 2 adjoining 3-room or smaller flats)

  • In line with the EIP and SPR quota, you will need to check that you are within the proportion/ limit for the block/ neighbourhood

Option 2 (Buy the 3-room or smaller flat that adjoins your currently owned 3-room or smaller flat)

  • No EIP/ SPR quota restriction

 

 

Ethnic Integration Policy, and Singapore Permanent Resident quota for the block/ neighbourhood

When buying an HDB resale flat, buyers need to ensure they are within the EIP proportion for the block/ neighbourhood, and if applicable, the SPR quota as well.

Household’s Citizenship Quota to Meet

SC household

At least 1 Singapore Citizen (SC) is listed as a buyer

EIP

Malaysian SPR household

At least 1 Malaysian SPR is listed as a buyer, and no SC is listed as a buyer

EIP

Non-Malaysian SPR household

All of the buyers are non-Malaysian SPRs, i.e. no SCs or Malaysian SPRs listed as buyers

EIP and SPR

You are considered as having fulfilled the EIP proportion or SPR quota under these circumstances:

  • You are within the block/ neighbourhood’s limits in terms of your ethnic group and the SPR quota,
  • You and the seller are of the same ethnic group and household citizenship type

You can use HDB e-Service to check if you are eligible to buy an HDB resale flat in a particular block or neighbourhood under the EIP and SPR quota.

The ethnic proportions and SPR quota are updated on the 1st of every month, and will apply to all completed resale applications received during that month.

You and the sellers must meet the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) and the Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) quota requirement on the date of resale application.

 

Financing (preferably to get this done once you have intention to buy)

If you are getting a housing loan from HDB, please ensure that you meet the loan eligibility conditions and have a valid HDB Loan Eligibility (HLE) Letter when exercising the Option To Purchase and when submitting the resale application.

If you are getting a bank loan, please ensure that you get an In-Principle Approval (IPA) from the bank and a bank's Letter of Offer when exercising the Option To Purchase. You must have accepted the Letter of Offer when submitting the resale application.

 

Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) household

If you are a SPR household (i.e. a SPR household with no Singapore Citizen (SC) owner), Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty of 5% is applicable.

 

SPR households must wait 3 years from the date of obtaining SPR status, before they can buy a resale HDB flat.

 

Note: After the purchase of HDB flat by SPR household:
(1) Disallowed from renting out their whole flat even after meeting the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) of 5 years. However, renting out of rooms is still allowed.
(2) Must sell their HDB flat within 6 months if SPR household buys a private residential property in Singapore.

 

 

Please call HDB Customer Support 1800 866 3066 or IRAS Stamp Duties 1800 460 4923 if you need any clarifications

 

Consideration to Buy your Private Property

To take note of the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) rate payable from 12 January 2013, depending on the profile of the buyer.

 

Profile of Buyer BSD Rates ABSD Rates from 12 Jan 2013

Singapore Citizens (SC) buying first residential property

1% on first $180,000

2% on next $180,000

3% for the remainder

Not applicable

SC buying second residential property

7%

SC buying third and subsequent residential property

10%

Singapore Permanent Residents (SPR) buying first residential property

5%

SPR buying second and subsequent residential property

10%

Foreigners (FR) and entities buying any residential property

15%

 

Financing (preferably to get this done once you have intention to buy)

If you are getting a bank loan, please ensure that you get an In-Principle Approval (IPA) from the bank and a bank's Letter of Offer when exercising the Option To Purchase.