Eligibility to Buy New HDB Flat
Citizenship
Age
You must be at least 21 years old at the time of application
Family Nucleus
You must form a family nucleus under one of the following schemes:
- You must be a Singapore Citizen
- Your family nucleus must comprise at least another Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident.
Age
You must be at least 21 years old at the time of application
Family Nucleus
You must form a family nucleus under one of the following schemes:
Special Requirement for Undischarged Bankrupts
Undischarged bankrupts need to seek the Official Assignee (OA)'s consent if they are applying for an HDB flat which is bigger than a 5-room flat. However, they do not need to seek the OA's approval to be listed as an occupier in an HDB flat even if the flat is bigger than a 5-room flat.
Ownership/Interest in Property in Singapore or Overseas other than HDB flats
You, your spouse, any occupiers listed in the Application Form or their spouses must not own or dispose or have an estate or interest in any other flat, house, building or land*
Undischarged bankrupts need to seek the Official Assignee (OA)'s consent if they are applying for an HDB flat which is bigger than a 5-room flat. However, they do not need to seek the OA's approval to be listed as an occupier in an HDB flat even if the flat is bigger than a 5-room flat.
Ownership/Interest in Property in Singapore or Overseas other than HDB flats
You, your spouse, any occupiers listed in the Application Form or their spouses must not own or dispose or have an estate or interest in any other flat, house, building or land*
- Within 30 months before the date of application, and
- Between the application date and the date of taking possession of the flat
- HUDC flats (Privatised and Non-Privatised)
- Properties acquired by gift
- Properties inherited as beneficiaries under a will or as a result of the Intestate Succession Act
- Private properties
- Properties owned/acquired/disposed through nominees regardless of properties location
Exemption to Exceptional Cases
HDB may consider granting exemption to exceptional cases based on the merits of each case. If you wish to seek exemption to buy a flat direct from HDB, please complete the property questionnaire which can be found on the HDB website and submit it to HDB.
Owners/Ex-owners of HDB flats / DBSS flats / EC units
Each eligible Singaporean household can buy the following housing unit only twice:
If you have already bought two housing units, you will not be eligible to apply or be listed as an essential occupier in an application.
Household Status
First-timer Applicants
You and the essential family members listed in the application for purchase of the flat must not:
Second-timer Applicants
You or the essential family members listed in your application have owned/sold or are currently owners of
Time Bar
Existing Owner or Ex-Owner of a Flat
You can apply for a flat if you, your spouse or any of the essential occupiers listed in the application is an existing owner or ex-owner of a:
HDB may consider granting exemption to exceptional cases based on the merits of each case. If you wish to seek exemption to buy a flat direct from HDB, please complete the property questionnaire which can be found on the HDB website and submit it to HDB.
Owners/Ex-owners of HDB flats / DBSS flats / EC units
Each eligible Singaporean household can buy the following housing unit only twice:
- a flat from the HDB;
- a resale flat with the CPF Housing Grant*;
- a DBSS flat from developer;
- an EC unit from developer.
If you have already bought two housing units, you will not be eligible to apply or be listed as an essential occupier in an application.
Household Status
First-timer Applicants
You and the essential family members listed in the application for purchase of the flat must not:
- Be the owners of a flat bought direct from HDB, a DBSS flat or an Executive Condominium bought from the developer
- Have sold a flat bought direct from HDB, a DBSS flat or an Executive Condominium bought from the developer
- Have received the CPF Housing Grant for the purchase of an HDB resale flat
- Have enjoyed other forms of housing subsidy (for example, enjoyed benefits under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme, privatisation of HUDC estate etc)
Second-timer Applicants
You or the essential family members listed in your application have owned/sold or are currently owners of
- Any HDB flat that was bought from HDB
- Any resale flat that was bought under the CPF Housing Grant Scheme
- Any apartment under Design, Build and Sell Scheme or Executive Condominium from the developer
- Have enjoyed other forms of housing subsidy (for example, enjoyed benefits under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme, privatisation of HUDC estate etc.)
Time Bar
Existing Owner or Ex-Owner of a Flat
You can apply for a flat if you, your spouse or any of the essential occupiers listed in the application is an existing owner or ex-owner of a:
- flat bought directly from HDB,
- resale flat bought under the CPF Housing Grant Scheme,
- DBSS flat bought from the developer, or
- EC bought from the developer.
Ex-Owner of an EC
Are you, your spouse or any of the essential occupiers listed in the application an ex-owner of an Executive Condominium bought directly from the developer? If yes, you would need to meet a 5-year period from the date of taking possession of the earlier Executive Condominium.
30-Month Period
In addition, you need to wait out a 30-month period from the effective date of disposal (i.e., date of legal completion of the sale of your Executive Condominium, evidenced by the Notice of Transfer or such other documentary evidence as HDB may require) of the Executive Condominium before you can apply to buy an HDB flat.
Essential Occupier of an Existing HDB Flat
You or any person listed the application must not be currently listed as an essential occupier of:
* The date of taking possession refers to:
If you book a flat from the March 2012 Build-To-Order and Sale of Balance Flats Exercises onwards and subsequently cancel the flat booking, you will have to meet a 1-year period from the date of cancellation before you can apply or be included as an essential occupier in an application for a:
Divorcees
Within five years from the date of the divorce, only one party in the divorce can own one of the following housing units:
However, this five-year wait out period will not apply if you are buying any of the above homes with your parents or a new spouse, or if you are buying a resale flat from the open market without the CPF Housing Grant.
If there is no matrimonial home or the matrimonial home was bought from the open market without any CPF Housing Grant, you may apply for any of the above housing units after you get your ex-spouse's consent not to own or be listed as an essential occupier in any of the above housing units within the five-year period from the date of divorce.
The requirement for ex-spouse's consent is waived if you are buying any of the above housing units with your parents or a new spouse or if you are buying a resale flat from the open market without the CPF Housing Grant.
With effect from 5 March 2012, the requirement to seek ex-spouse's consent during the five-year period from the date of divorce is also waived if you meet the following conditions:
Are you, your spouse or any of the essential occupiers listed in the application an ex-owner of an Executive Condominium bought directly from the developer? If yes, you would need to meet a 5-year period from the date of taking possession of the earlier Executive Condominium.
30-Month Period
In addition, you need to wait out a 30-month period from the effective date of disposal (i.e., date of legal completion of the sale of your Executive Condominium, evidenced by the Notice of Transfer or such other documentary evidence as HDB may require) of the Executive Condominium before you can apply to buy an HDB flat.
Essential Occupier of an Existing HDB Flat
You or any person listed the application must not be currently listed as an essential occupier of:
- An existing HDB flat bought directly from HDB,
- A DBSS flat bought under the CPF Housing Grant Scheme, or,
- A resale flat bought under the CPF Housing Grant Scheme
* The date of taking possession refers to:
- The date of key collection, for flats that are bought directly from HDB
- The date of resale completion, for purchase of resale flats from the open market bought with the CPF Housing Grant
- The date of transfer at market value of the flat bought with CPF Housing Grant
- The date of key collection for Executive Condominium/DBSS flats bought from the developer, whichever is applicable.
If you book a flat from the March 2012 Build-To-Order and Sale of Balance Flats Exercises onwards and subsequently cancel the flat booking, you will have to meet a 1-year period from the date of cancellation before you can apply or be included as an essential occupier in an application for a:
- new HDB flat
- DBSS flat from developers
- Executive Condominium unit from the developers
- resale flat with CPF Housing Grant
- resale flat that has been announced for SERS
Divorcees
Within five years from the date of the divorce, only one party in the divorce can own one of the following housing units:
- a flat bought directly from the HDB
- a DBSS flat / EC bought directly from a private developer
- a resale flat bought from open market under the CPF Housing Grant Scheme
However, this five-year wait out period will not apply if you are buying any of the above homes with your parents or a new spouse, or if you are buying a resale flat from the open market without the CPF Housing Grant.
If there is no matrimonial home or the matrimonial home was bought from the open market without any CPF Housing Grant, you may apply for any of the above housing units after you get your ex-spouse's consent not to own or be listed as an essential occupier in any of the above housing units within the five-year period from the date of divorce.
The requirement for ex-spouse's consent is waived if you are buying any of the above housing units with your parents or a new spouse or if you are buying a resale flat from the open market without the CPF Housing Grant.
With effect from 5 March 2012, the requirement to seek ex-spouse's consent during the five-year period from the date of divorce is also waived if you meet the following conditions:
- All your children are below 16 years old at the date of divorce; and
- You have the legal custody of all your children and are also the only parent with the care and control of all your children.
