HDB Resale Guide for Agents

On this page

1. Transaction map, deadlines and portals
2. Seller readiness, Intent to Sell and marketing
3. Buyer eligibility, HFE and income assessment
4. Grants, loans, CPF and insurance
5. OTP, valuation and exercise
6. Resale application, documents and fees
7. Endorsement, completion and extension of stay
8. Selling and buying: contra, bridging and worked example

1. Transaction map, deadlines and portals

Transaction sequence

Diary the OTP expiry, application window, paired-submission deadline, HFE expiry and possession date separately. See HDB resale procedures and the HFE guide.

Portals and access

Clients select their dashboard role: HFE applicant, resale buyer, seller, estate representative or endorsement party. Occupier spouses and parents/children involved in a Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) have separate endorsement routes.

Use your salesperson access for authorised submissions. Each applicant, occupier and endorsing family member uses their own Singpass for declarations.

2. Seller readiness, Intent to Sell and marketing

Establish whether the flat can be sold

A flat with less than 60 years remaining may still be saleable. Check seller eligibility separately from the buyer’s CPF and loan limits, which depend on age and remaining lease.

Register Intent to Sell

Seller: My Flat Dashboard → Selling a Flat → I am a seller → Register Intent to Sell. Enter the flat address, all sellers’ particulars and next-housing details; review the declarations.

Save the eligibility result, flat details, earliest OTP date and quota advisory. ITS is a preliminary assessment, not resale approval.

Check the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) and Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) quota for the household and flat. Quotas apply to the resale-application month and change monthly; recheck if submission crosses into another month.

Use the HDB listing service

Owners or their appointed salesperson can list for free after registering ITS.

The listing service provides:

• Auto-filled address, flat type and area, which you should still review.
• Recent resale transactions, with 6-month comparisons and longer history.
• A prompt when the asking price is at least 5% above the highest comparable same-flat-type transaction in the preceding 6 months. This is an advisory, not a valuation or price cap.
• Upfront information on quota, extension of stay and contra requirements.
• Buyers with valid HFE letters contacting sellers and booking viewings through the portal.
• 30-minute viewing slots, from the next day to 2 months ahead, with email notifications.

Review the listing details and inspect the flat; portal checks don’t replace due diligence.

For the detailed file checklist, see seller readiness and pricing, sale proceeds and CPF.

3. Buyer eligibility, HFE and income assessment

Start with the household

SC means Singapore Citizen; SPR means Singapore Permanent Resident. A Malaysian spouse may be an SPR or a non-resident, so nationality alone doesn’t settle the grant question.

The usual single SC route starts at age 35. Special family circumstances, widowhood, orphaned siblings or an unwed parent need the appropriate scheme assessment, rather than a blanket answer based on age.

Identify the qualifying core members before adding a child, sibling or co-buyer. Check HDB’s household eligibility rules and the HFE outcome.

Apply for HFE before taking an OTP

HFE confirms purchase eligibility, grants and HDB borrowing. Every resale buyer needs a valid HFE when obtaining the OTP and submitting the resale application, including bank-loan and no-loan buyers.

1. Preliminary check: retrieve Myinfo particulars, add all applicants/occupiers, declare employment, income, property interests, loan intent and financial commitments.
2. Full application: within 30 calendar days of starting that check, confirm the loan choice, retrieve additional records and upload requested documents.
3. Individual declarations: all applicants and occupiers log in to verify their information before submission.
4. Follow up: retain the acknowledgement and respond to requests for more documents. A preliminary assessment is not an issued HFE letter.
5. Read the full letter: check validity, reference, eligible flat types, grants, loan scenarios and all conditions.

Compare the HFE’s prudent, moderate and maximum loan scenarios: instalments, tenure, interest and cash required. The Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR) caps qualifying housing-loan instalments at 30% of gross monthly income. Keep household names and applicant/occupier roles consistent across HFE, OTP, valuation and application; changes may require reassessment or a fresh HFE.

HDB’s HFE guide covers application steps and processing times.

Assess each person’s income

HDB assesses a 12-month window ending 2 months before the HFE application month. For a September 2026 application, that means August 2025 to July 2026.

For each employed person, divide assessed income by the number of months worked in that period, excluding months treated as unemployment/no-pay leave. For self-employment, use 12 months or the period since business commencement within that window, as applicable.

Then add the individual monthly averages. For example, $48,000 over 12 months, $24,000 over 6 months and $30,000 over 10 months produce $4,000 + $4,000 + $3,000 = $11,000 household income, not $102,000 ÷ 12.

Gross income includes employee CPF deductions. An occupier’s income counts towards grant ceilings but doesn’t increase the owners’ HDB borrowing capacity.

Applicants must be working at HFE application for EHG/HDB loan consideration; HDB borrowers must remain employed or in trade when the loan is disbursed. EHG also has its own continuous-employment requirement.

Retrieve Myinfo, then provide documents for each employment/trade requested. Files: unencrypted PDF/JPG/PNG, 5MB each, 40MB total, with permitted filenames. Documents outside English, Chinese, Malay or Tamil require an official English translation. See HDB’s income and document guidelines.

2026 eligibility changes

For the wait-out transition, unchanged valid HFEs need no action; pending applications are updated automatically. Buyers moving beyond an old 4-room-or-smaller exemption should cancel/reapply as directed. Pending waiver applicants can apply for HFE directly.

Sources: revised income ceilings and wait-out removal. The removal doesn’t extend to BTO/SBF purchases.

Comparing a new flat or EC: the EC income ceiling is $18,000 for projects with land-tender closing dates on/after 24 August 2026. From February 2027 BTO/SBF, eligible first-timer families, including expecting families, receive an extra ballot chance per SC child aged 18 or below. Base chances are 2 for first-timer families and 3 for the Parents & Married Couples category. See the income-ceiling explainer.

4. Grants, loans, CPF and insurance

Grant reference

Confirm grants in the HFE. Eligibility depends on first-timer history, citizenship, income, flat size, lease and family composition.

Maximum combined grants: $230,000 for families ($80,000 + $120,000 + $30,000) and $115,000 for singles ($40,000 + $60,000 + $15,000), both using live-with PHG.

EHG income ceilings remain $9,000 for families and $4,500 for singles applying alone. Check separate rules for joint singles/non-resident spouses and the 12-month continuous-employment requirement.

PHG can cover repeat buyers, subject to prior receipt and relationship rules. Verify distance, not just town; parents may live in HDB or qualifying private property. Proximity/co-residence obligations continue during MOP.

Sources: family grant eligibility, HDB’s grant overview, EHG for singles and 2024 grant enhancement.

Grant use, distribution and later top-ups

Grants go into CPF to fund the flat price and reduce borrowing. They can’t pay cash OTP deposits or COV.

Check Family Grant/Top-Up Grant allocation among eligible core family members, including SC/SPR members. EHG has separate allocation rules.

A former Singles Grant recipient who forms an eligible family may qualify for a Top-Up Grant. Apply within 6 months of marriage registration or the qualifying spouse/child citizenship/residency change. The amount may be the difference from the prevailing Family Grant, or up to $40,000 for eligible former 2-room/2-room Flexi buyers.

Citizen Top-Up addresses an eligible SC/SPR household’s earlier $10,000 subsidy differential. Check the qualifying event and deadline in HDB’s Top-Up/Citizen Top-Up terms.

For engaged couples, check marriage conditions before combining grants. For an SC with a non-resident spouse, establish residency and whether an SC child forms a qualifying nucleus; living in HDB rental housing doesn’t determine grant eligibility.

Budget and loan choice

Purchase funds = cash + usable CPF OA + eligible grants + approved loan. Deduct costs and the client’s reserve to get the price budget. Don’t count grants twice after crediting them to OA.

LTV means loan-to-value limit. Actual HFE/bank approval may be lower than the maximum.

The HDB assessment floor of 3% is used to assess borrowing capacity; it isn’t the interest rate charged.

Confirm financing on My Flat Dashboard before exercise. A bank IPA doesn’t replace the required Letter of Offer. See HDB loan conditions.

CPF housing usage and remaining lease

Under CPF’s Public Housing Scheme (PHS), eligible OA savings can fund the flat purchase, instalments, stamp/legal fees and permitted upgrading costs. COV remains cash-only.

WL caps cumulative CPF use; it doesn’t fund COV. See CPF’s lease rule and housing usage calculator.

Use the CPF calculator:

1. Choose a new property purchase when estimating an upcoming acquisition, then identify the flat as HDB resale. “New property” here doesn’t mean BTO.
2. Enter the actual birthdates of all co-owners supported by the calculator (up to 3).
3. Enter purchase/application date, lease start date and original lease duration, not remaining lease in the duration field.
4. Select HDB loan, bank loan or no loan; enter price and HDB valuation separately.
5. Save the result with its input dates. Use the logged-in CPF dashboard for an existing property’s remaining usage allowance.

The calculator excludes HDB studio apartments and short-lease 2-room Flexi flats; CPF also requires separate assessment for purchases below market valuation.

A historical calculator example for buyers aged 30 and 26, a 1981 lease with 58 years remaining, and an $800,000 bank-financed purchase valued at $780,000 gives $600,600 combined CPF usage. Recalculate for the actual birthdates and purchase date.

On sale, separate the CPF principal/accrued-interest refund from cash proceeds. For older sellers, establish the retirement allocation and amount reusable for the next purchase.

Home Protection Scheme (HPS)

HPS covers death, terminal illness and total permanent disability. Mortgage cover runs until age 65 or loan repayment, whichever comes first. Fire insurance is separate.

HPS is required when CPF pays monthly instalments, unless exempted; cash-paying owners may apply. Health declarations apply. Private property, including ECs and privatised HUDC flats, isn’t covered.

Match each owner’s cover to their instalment share, totalling at least 100%. OA can pay annual premiums. Approved claims pay the lender up to the insured outstanding mortgage.

Use the HPS premium calculator with birthdate, sex, loan amount, term, interest rate and coverage share. Check CPF’s HPS guidance for health review, exemptions and cases where cover isn’t available.

5. OTP, valuation and exercise

Settle the terms before granting the option

Use HDB’s prescribed OTP. Check parties, address, price, dates, serial number, fees, submission period and signatures. Agree inventory, possession, extension and linked transactions before signing; refer additional contractual terms to the conveyancer.

Pay the seller through the agreed channel and retain receipts. Agents must not collect transaction monies into their own accounts.

Request for Value checklist

Submit by the next working day after the option date if using CPF and/or a loan. Here, working day means Monday–Friday excluding public holidays; don’t wait for exercise.

Arrange access if HDB appoints a valuer. Buyer names must match the OTP and resale application. HDB won’t accept another request for the flat while that OTP is live.

Download the value letter from My Flat Dashboard before access ends, 1 month after completion.

Allow 4–7 working days for planning, subject to HDB’s actual turnaround. Recalculate COV, loan, CPF limits and cash shortfall before exercise.

COV = price − HDB value, if positive. A $630,000 price and $610,000 value requires $20,000 COV, plus other cash requirements. Credit the deposit already paid towards the price.

See HDB’s Request for Value guidance and the OTP, valuation and COV detail page.

6. Resale application, documents and fees

Coordinate both sides

After exercise, each side submits its portion personally or through its agent. Either can submit first; the second must follow within 7 calendar days. Otherwise, the application lapses, fees are forfeited and both sides must restart.

Both portions and supporting documents are needed for a complete application. Recheck HFE validity and the submission month’s quota before either side submits.

Request ECF in the applications and provide both flat addresses.

Build the document pack

Keep scans legible and within 5MB per file. Follow the service’s format and total-upload limits.

POA and LPA confer different authority. Confirm the representative’s powers and required documents with HDB/the conveyancer.

Bank-loan sales and purchases normally need private solicitors on the lender’s panel. For HDB/no-loan cases, check whether HDB can act.

Fees and funds to schedule

Residential BSD bands are 1% on the first $180,000, 2% on the next $180,000, 3% on the next $640,000, 4% on the next $500,000, 5% on the next $1.5 million and 6% above $3 million. Verify the duty and payment deadline against IRAS BSD and ABSD guidance.

File the submission acknowledgements and payment receipts. Supporting checklists: application documents and fees and agent agreements.

7. Endorsement, completion and extension of stay

After HDB accepts

After acceptance, HDB prepares documents for endorsement and payment, then issues approval once requirements are met. Read the financial plan before endorsing.

Reconcile price, deposit, grants, CPF, loan, cash balance, fees and completion arrangements. For private-lawyer cases, arrange signing and check the firm’s statement against the dashboard.

Track each person’s endorsement, including PHG parents/children and occupier spouses where required.

Before and on completion

Allow 1–2 days before completion for move-out and at least 1 day for the buyer’s inspection. Meet the agreed vacant-possession deadline unless an approved extension applies.

At completion, buyers sign any HDB mortgage documents, acknowledge keys, settle tax apportionment and confirm S&CC payment. Check the appointment letter and solicitor’s instructions for attendance and key exchange.

Electronic sale proceeds from September 2026

For resale applications submitted on/after 7 September 2026, cash sale proceeds are paid electronically instead of by cheque.

Cash proceeds and CPF refunds arrive separately. Follow the dashboard or solicitor’s payout instructions; bank credit doesn’t establish CPF availability.

Allow 10–14 working days for CPF refunds when planning, then confirm actual credit before committing the funds.

Temporary extension of stay

Eligible sellers may stay for up to 3 months after completion, with buyer agreement, HDB approval and the required next-home commitment. Declare the extension in the resale application.

Agree the end date, compensation, utilities, S&CC, property tax, maintenance, damage, access and handover in writing. Explain the buyer’s ownership costs and delayed MOP commencement.

Agree measurement/viewing access separately from renovation works and possession.

Check HDB’s extension requirements. The completion and handover page has a longer possession checklist.

8. Selling and buying: contra, bridging and worked example

Choose the financing route

Enhanced Contra Facility

The client sells Flat A and buys Flat B. Eligible financing combinations can include HDB loan → HDB loan, HDB loan → fully paid, fully paid → HDB loan and fully paid → fully paid.

Check mortgages, CPF charges, solicitor involvement, bankruptcy and transaction type against HDB’s ECF terms.

Operationally:

1. Both OTPs must be exercised before the resale applications can proceed.
2. Coordinate the buyer of Flat A, the contra client and the seller of Flat B. Only the contra client requests ECF and identifies both flats in their sale and purchase portions.
3. Submit the linked applications/supporting documents within the required 7-day window across the parties.
4. Flat A must complete before Flat B, or on the same day.
5. Confirm the amount approved for contra and what the client must still fund upfront. Ordinary resale approval doesn’t itself approve ECF.

Apply eligible existing OA and CPF refunds before cash sale proceeds. Confirm the allocation with HDB/CPF.

The buyer of Flat A and seller of Flat B can’t also request ECF in this chain. A delay or failure of Flat A doesn’t remove the client’s obligation to fund Flat B.

ECF proceeds can’t pay stamp duty or legal fees. Arrange existing eligible OA/cash for those costs, and cash for deposits/COV. See HDB’s ECF application guidance.

Bank bridging loan

A bank bridge can fund an approved gap against expected sale proceeds or CPF refunds. Obtain the lender’s written offer.

Confirm amount, drawdown conditions, interest, tenure, exercised contracts, legal undertakings and repayment date. Include bridge costs in the budget.

CPF permits consideration of a bridge from any bank, subject to HDB/bank approval. Where CPF is used, CPF withdrawals plus all loans, including the bridge, must not exceed the lower of price/value. Repaying the bridge with refunded CPF requires legal documentation and settlement of outstanding cash amounts. See CPF’s bridging guidance.

Compare the timelines

A negotiated 40–60-day application window can help coordinate transactions, but doesn’t extend the 21-day OTP period. Exercise may occur earlier, including immediately or within 7 days on the purchase side, once prerequisites are met.

Work backwards from possession, renovation and available funds. Track acceptance, completion, cash credit, CPF availability and move-out separately.

Worked example: fully paid maisonette to another resale flat

Assume a $630,000 sale, $450,000 CPF refund, $68,000 existing OA and a $470,000–$550,000 next purchase with no loan.

Illustrative costs: negotiated commission of 2% plus 9% GST on the fee, and $800 sale legal fees.

Net cash includes the deposit already received. Deduct it and any further adjustments to calculate the completion payout.

Confirm how much of the $518,000 OA is usable after retirement allocation, lease limits and other CPF conditions.

Balances combine cash and CPF. They exclude purchase legal/application/valuation fees, ABSD if applicable, insurance, renovation, moving and other commitments.

If all $518,000 OA is usable, the $550,000 price needs at least $32,000 cash. The $470,000 price fits within OA, but deposits and ECF-restricted fees still need separate funding.

The cheaper flat preserves $82,400 after price and BSD. Compare that reserve with the household’s space and lease needs.

Final case-file check

Confirm HFE, seller eligibility, quota, lease, valuation, loan, CPF, cash and deadlines before committing. Keep the approved financial worksheet and supporting evidence together.

Related: transaction checklists, timeline, next-home financing and FAQ/glossary.

HDB’s salesperson procedures cover case submissions and follow-up.

Accurate as of 30 Sep 2026.