Housing Development Board
HDB Flats
About 80% of Singaporeans live in Housing Development Board (HDB) flats built by the government. It is a rather different concept from the government housing in other countries.
The owner of a HDB flat owns the title deed, hence HDB flats can be bought and sold in the open market.
In recent years, many have transacted at more than a million dollars.
As HDB flats are built by the government, there are various regulations in place to maintain housing affordability, social cohesion, family-planning etc.
These regulations include household income ceiling limit and the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) etc.
In order to get an accurate answer for your eligibility to own a HDB flat, simply apply for a HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) Letter via the HDB website.
CAN A FOREIGNER PURCHASE A HDB?
Quite simply, the answer is Yes if there is Permanent Resident (PR) status and No, if there is no PR status. In addition, there has to be a family nucleus.
Various scenarios are shown in the table below for a better understanding.
PR = Permanent Resident
Non-PR = Foreigner without PR status
SC = Singapore Citizen
BTO HDB = Build-to-Order HDB flat, purchased directly from HDB with a waiting time of 3-4 years of construction period.
SBF HDB = Sales of Balance HDB flat, purchased directly from HDB with a shorter waiting time.
Resale HDB = A HDB flat put up for sale by an existing owner in the open market.
<Important> HDB FLAT ELIGIBILITY (HFE) LETTER
HDB requires all potential buyers of a HDB flat, be it BTO, SFB or resale, to have a valid HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) Letter. The HFE letter is to be applied via the HDB website.
Various documents like your payslips will need to be uploaded as softcopies.
Since the HFE letter has a validity of 9 months, it is advisable to apply it sooner than later as the processing time will take about a month.