Should I choose an HDB loan or a bank loan?

HDB concessionary loan is pegged at the CPF Ordinary Account interest rate plus 0.1 percent (currently 2.6 percent per annum), accepts a lower cash downpayment, and has a wider eligibility. Bank loans often start lower (fixed or floating) but move with the market and require more cash upfront. You can refinance from HDB to a bank later, but not the other way round. Most first-time buyers start with HDB for stability, then refinance if bank rates drop meaningfully.

Do I need a property agent to buy an HDB resale flat?

No. Buying without an agent is allowed and the entire transaction runs through My Flat Dashboard on the HDB Flat Portal. An agent can help you shortlist flats, coordinate viewings, and negotiate price, but HDB does not require one. Commission is privately negotiated between you and the agent, not set by HDB.

What grants can a first-timer family get on a resale flat?

A first-timer family can stack up to $190,000 in grants on a resale flat: the CPF Housing Grant (up to $80,000 for 4-room or smaller, $50,000 for 5-room and bigger), the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (up to $120,000, tiered by monthly income, capped at $9,000 average gross household income), and the Proximity Housing Grant (up to $30,000 if you live within 4 km of an immediate family member). Singles aged 35 and above get half of each amount.

Buying an HDB resale flat

How to buy an HDB resale flat, step by step

10 min read Verified against hdb.gov.sg, 7 April 2026 No agent affiliation

Buying an HDB resale flat in Singapore is a structured six-step process that runs through the HDB Flat Portal and My Flat Dashboard. Everything starts with an HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) Letter, which HDB takes up to 21 working days to issue and which is valid for 6 months. After that the formal HDB timeline from OTP grant to key collection is roughly 10 to 14 weeks: up to 21 days to exercise the Option to Purchase, up to 28 working days for HDB to accept the Resale Application, and about 8 weeks from acceptance to the completion appointment. This page walks through each official step, the timing rules HDB enforces, the costs you should budget for, and the decisions that trip up first-time buyers most often.

The short version

Six mandatory steps, starting with the HFE Letter

Apply for the HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) Letter on the HDB Flat Portal, up to 21 working days, valid 6 months.
Use the HFE Letter to plan financing: HDB loan or bank loan, and the grants you qualify for.
Search for a flat on the HDB Flat Portal or the open market.
Receive the Option to Purchase from the seller, pay the Option Fee ($1–$1,000), and exercise it within 21 calendar days.
Submit your half of the Resale Application via My Flat Dashboard within 7 days of the seller's submission.
HDB accepts within 28 working days, then the resale completes about 8 weeks later at the completion appointment.

The official six-step process

Apply for your HFE Letter

Where: HDB Flat Portal Processing: up to 21 working days Validity: 6 months

Every HDB resale purchase starts with the HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) Letter. Log in to the HDB Flat Portal with Singpass, start a new HFE application, and submit the required information for yourself and every co-applicant: income, employment, household members, existing properties, and the flat type you intend to buy.

HDB takes up to 21 working days to process a complete application. The HFE Letter you receive is a one-stop summary of everything you can and cannot do, on HDB's books, as a buyer: your eligibility to buy a new or resale flat, the CPF housing grants you qualify for, your maximum HDB Concessionary Loan amount, and the conditions attached to each of these. The letter is valid for 6 months from the date of issue.

The HFE Letter is not optional. Without a valid HFE Letter in hand, a seller is not allowed to grant you an Option to Purchase, and HDB will not accept your Resale Application. Treat this step as Day 1 of your purchase, not something to chase later.

Source: HDB, HFE Letter

Plan your financing

HDB loan or bank loan Grants: stacked on HFE Letter LO before OTP exercise date

The HFE Letter hands you the three numbers that decide what you can actually afford: your grants, your loan ceiling, and your cash and CPF downpayment. Use this step to choose between an HDB Concessionary Loan and a bank loan, and to line up the paperwork before you start viewing flats seriously.

If you are going with an HDB loan, the HFE Letter already states your eligibility and maximum loan amount, there is nothing more to get. If you are going with a bank loan, you must get a Letter of Offer (LO) from the bank, and the LO must be dated on or before the OTP exercise date. Leave yourself a week or two for the bank to process the loan application once you have a specific flat in mind.

At the same time, confirm which CPF housing grants apply to you. First-timer families can stack the CPF Housing Grant, Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) and Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) to a combined total of up to $190,000 on a resale flat. Singles aged 35 and above can stack their singles-tier equivalents to up to $115,000. Your HFE Letter lists exactly which ones you qualify for and the dollar amounts, so you do not need to guess.

Source: HDB, HDB Loan

Search for a flat

Where: HDB Flat Portal · open market Benchmark: recent transactions Time: variable

Once your HFE Letter is in hand, the search begins. HDB's official Resale Flat Listing on the HDB Flat Portal is the free, no-agent channel and shows every flat that sellers have listed through HDB. You can also search on PropertyGuru, 99.co, and similar portals, or engage a buyer's agent.

For every flat you are serious about, check the recently transacted prices for the same block, floor band, and flat type. HDB publishes this data publicly, and it is the only honest benchmark for what a flat is worth. Treat the asking price on any listing as a starting point, not a valuation.

Two things to check before you commit: the flat's remaining lease (which affects how much CPF you can use and the loan tenure), and whether the block is still within the Ethnic Integration Policy and SPR quota for your household, if it is not, HDB will block the transaction even if you and the seller agree on a price.

Source: HDB, Resale Buying Procedure (overview)

Receive and exercise the Option to Purchase

Option Fee: $1 to $1,000 Validity: 21 calendar days Form: HDB-prescribed OTP

When you and the seller agree on a price, the seller grants you an Option to Purchase (OTP) on the HDB-prescribed form. This is the only form HDB will recognise for a resale transaction, a private agreement, a handshake, or a non-HDB template does not count.

You pay an Option Fee of any amount between $1 and $1,000, mutually agreed between you and the seller. From the moment the OTP is granted, you have 21 calendar days to exercise it. Exercising the OTP means signing and returning it to the seller within that window.

During the 21-day window you must:

Hold a valid HFE Letter (you should already have this from Step 1).
If you are using a bank loan, hold a valid Letter of Offer dated on or before the exercise date.
Pay the Buyer's Stamp Duty to IRAS within 14 days of signing or exercising the OTP, whichever comes first.

If you fail to exercise within 21 days, the OTP lapses, the seller keeps your Option Fee, and the seller is free to grant a new OTP to someone else. This is the deadline that catches unprepared first-time buyers, the only insurance is having your HFE Letter and bank LO already sorted before you sign.

Source: HDB, OTP (buyer side)

Submit the Resale Application

Where: My Flat Dashboard Window: 7 days of each other Acceptance: up to 28 working days

Once the OTP is exercised, both you and the seller submit your respective halves of the Resale Application through My Flat Dashboard. Two timing rules apply at the same time:

Within the timeframe specified on page 4 of the OTP form.
Within 7 calendar days of each other's submission. Whoever submits first has 7 days before the other party must follow, or the application cannot be accepted.

HDB then verifies the eligibility of both parties and reviews the supporting documents. Once everything is in order, HDB notifies you and the seller of acceptance within 28 working days, by SMS and email. This acceptance date is the starting line for the 8-week completion countdown.

Source: HDB, Resale Application

Endorse, pay, and collect the keys

Window: ~8 weeks from acceptance Documents: ready ~3 weeks in Final step: completion appointment

From the date HDB accepts the Resale Application, the purchase completes in about 8 weeks. Around the 3-week mark, HDB prepares the legal documents for both parties to endorse. You handle the endorsement and fee payment online through My Flat Dashboard, the entire process is digital.

The completion date stated in the acceptance email is the earliest possible date. HDB cannot bring it forward, but you and the seller may mutually agree on a later date via MyRequest@HDB. On the completion date, you attend the resale completion appointment (in person or online as scheduled), the legal title of the flat transfers to you, any outstanding CPF movements and loan drawdowns are settled, and the seller hands over the keys.

This is the point at which your Minimum Occupation Period begins. MOP runs from the date the purchase is legally completed, not from key collection, and the standard figure for a resale flat bought off the open market is 5 years.

Source: HDB, Resale Completion

Costs to budget for as a buyer

The headline price is not what you actually pay. On top of the resale price, you need to budget for the downpayment, Buyer's Stamp Duty, legal fees, and the Option Fee you put down at the OTP. Grants and your CPF Ordinary Account savings offset part of this. Here is where the money goes.

Cost	Amount	When
Option Fee (paid to the seller on OTP grant)	$1 – $1,000	On OTP grant, mutually agreed with seller
Downpayment, HDB loan (25% of price, LTV 75% since 20 Aug 2024)	25% of price	Minimum 5% in cash, balance from CPF OA
Downpayment, bank loan (LTV 75% for first housing loan)	25% of price	Minimum 5% in cash, balance from CPF OA
Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD), payable to IRAS	Tiered, see below	Within 14 days of signing or exercising OTP
HDB legal/conveyancing fees (if using HDB as conveyancer)	Use HDB calculator	Online, during the 8-week completion window
Private lawyer fees (if using a private conveyancer)	Negotiable	Settled separately with the lawyer
Property valuation fee (HDB Request for Value)	Fee per request	Paid on submission via HDB Flat Portal
Property agent commission (if you use one)	Negotiable	Settled with agent under your private agreement
CPF housing grants (first-timer family: up to $190,000 stacked)	Offsets purchase price	Credited to your CPF OA at completion

Buyer's Stamp Duty in detail

Buyer's Stamp Duty is payable to IRAS within 14 days of signing or exercising the Option to Purchase, whichever comes first. You can pay BSD using your CPF Ordinary Account savings. The tiered schedule for residential property is:

1%, on the first $180,000 of purchase price
2%, on the next $180,000
3%, on the next $640,000
Higher tiers apply above $1,000,000, check the IRAS BSD page for the full schedule

Most HDB resale transactions fall entirely within the 1%–3% brackets, because the majority of HDB flats trade below $1,000,000. For the exact figure on your specific purchase price, use the official IRAS Stamp Duty Calculator rather than a third-party estimator.

Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD): A Singapore Citizen buying their first residential property pays 0% ABSD, which covers most first-time HDB resale buyers. A Singapore Citizen buying a second residential property pays 20% ABSD. Higher rates apply to Permanent Residents, foreigners, and entities, check the IRAS ABSD page for the full table.

Source: IRAS, Buyer's Stamp Duty

The downpayment in detail

Since 20 August 2024, the loan-to-value (LTV) limit for HDB Concessionary Loans is 75%, which means a minimum 25% downpayment. The same 75% LTV applies to bank loans for a first housing loan. For both loan types, the minimum cash component of the downpayment is 5% of the purchase price, and the balance may come from your CPF Ordinary Account. The cash portion is paid when you exercise the OTP; the CPF portion is settled at completion.

If you are a first-timer family, the CPF housing grants you qualify for (up to $190,000 stacked) are credited directly to your CPF Ordinary Account and go toward the purchase price, not into your pocket as cash. In practice this usually means you still need the full 5% cash downpayment up front, even though your grants cover a large share of the purchase.

Source: HDB press release, 19 Aug 2024 LTV change

Common questions buyers ask

How long does the whole process take from start to finish?

Budget 4 to 6 months end to end. The HFE Letter alone takes up to 21 working days to process and is valid for 6 months. The flat search is variable. Once you receive an OTP you have up to 21 calendar days to exercise it. After the Resale Application is submitted, HDB takes up to 28 working days to accept, and the resale completes about 8 weeks from acceptance. The formal HDB timeline from OTP grant to key collection is roughly 10 to 14 weeks.

Do I need the HFE Letter before I start looking at flats?

Yes. The HFE Letter is mandatory before a seller can legally grant you an OTP, and HDB will not accept a Resale Application without it. Just as importantly, the HFE Letter is the document that tells you exactly which grants you qualify for and how much HDB will lend you. Starting the search without it means you are guessing at your own budget.

HDB loan or bank loan, which should I choose?

The HDB Concessionary Loan is pegged at the CPF Ordinary Account interest rate plus 0.1 percent, which currently works out to 2.6 percent per annum, and has remained stable for many years. It accepts a lower cash component on the downpayment and is offered to eligible households that include at least one Singapore Citizen. A bank loan can start with a lower fixed or floating rate but moves with the market and requires tighter documentation. You can refinance from HDB to a bank later if bank rates drop meaningfully, but you cannot refinance from a bank back to an HDB loan.

What grants can a first-timer family stack on a resale flat?

A first-timer family can stack up to three grants: the CPF Housing Grant (up to $80,000 for a 4-room or smaller flat, $50,000 for 5-room and bigger), the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (up to $120,000, tiered by income, capped at an average gross household income of $9,000 per month), and the Proximity Housing Grant (up to $30,000 if you live within 4 km of an immediate family member). The combined stack can reach $190,000. The exact amounts that apply to you are stated on your HFE Letter.

When do I need to pay Buyer's Stamp Duty?

Within 14 days of signing or exercising the Option to Purchase, whichever comes first. For most HDB resale flats under $1 million, BSD works out to 1 percent on the first $180,000, 2 percent on the next $180,000, and 3 percent on the balance. You can pay BSD using your CPF Ordinary Account savings. Use the official IRAS Stamp Duty Calculator for the exact figure on your specific purchase price.

Do I need to use a property agent to buy?

No. Buying without an agent is supported by HDB. The Resale Flat Listing on the HDB Flat Portal lets you browse and contact sellers directly, and the entire transaction runs through My Flat Dashboard. An agent can still be useful for shortlisting, viewings and negotiation, especially if this is your first purchase. Agent commission is privately negotiated between you and the agent, not fixed by HDB.

Sources and verification

All facts on this page were checked against the above sources on 7 April 2026. HDB rules, grant amounts, interest rates and stamp duty tiers do change, if you are about to act, click through to the official source to confirm the figure still holds.