“Want to apply for HDB BTO flat together?” Some of us may be guilty of proposing to our partners in this way. For those of us who don’t know, BTO stands for “Build to Order”. This means that HDB will only commence constructing these flats after the units have been booked.
Your HDB BTO application can be one of the most exciting and important events of your life. In most cases, you will be applying for the HDB BTO flat with your fiance/fiancee.
Thus, the aim of this article is to help you decide on the kind of BTO HDB flat to get and some important factors to consider. However, there will hopefully still be some useful takeaways that all readers can get from this article, even those applying as singles over the age of 35 or under the joint singles scheme. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
1. Eligibility for HDB BTO Application
Citizenship and Age
You can only buy a BTO if you fulfil eligibility conditions for HDB BTO application in Singapore. Firstly, both you and your partner must be 21 years of age and fulfil some citizenship requirements. If both of you are Singapore citizens, then you would qualify.
But what happens if one of you is a Singapore citizen while the other is a Singapore permanent resident?
Not to fret, you can still qualify for a BTO flat in Singapore, as long as you pay a $10,000 premium at the time of the purchase of the flat. This may seem like a big amount initially. However, once your spouse gets his or her citizenship status or when you have a Singapore citizen child, you can apply for the additional $10,000 Citizen Top-Up Grant which reimburses you for the premium you paid initially.
For those of you who are Singapore citizens but are intending to marry a non-Singaporean and non-permanent resident (talking to those intending to cohabit with a foreign bride), you can still apply for an HDB flat with your spouse. However, do note that you would only qualify for a new two-room flat in non-mature estates.
Qualifying Schemes
To buy a BTO HDB flat, you would have to fall within one of the qualifying schemes by HDB. HDB’s requires you to be part of a family nucleus and only certain kinds of relationships are recognised.
One way you can qualify is under the fiance-fiancee scheme. You and your partner simply need to furnish proof of your marriage to HDB in the form of your marriage certificate.
Interestingly, you would also fall within a family nucleus if you have a spouse (with or without children), if you have parents and/or siblings, or if you are divorced and have children under your legal custody, care and control.
Income Ceiling
There is an income ceiling, beyond which you cannot apply for a BTO in Singapore. Previously, the income threshold for families was $12,000. However, HDB, fortunately, raised the BTO income ceiling to $14,000.
Thus, as long as you and your spouse earn less than $14,000 in total every month, you can qualify for 4-room flats or bigger. For a 3-room flat, the income ceiling could vary. In fact, for such flats, the income cap can be $14,000 or as low as $7,000 depending on the project.
For those thinking of getting a lower-paying job just to qualify for your HDB BTO flat, this is possible provided you are prepared to earn this lower amount for a few months. In fact, your BTO application requires you to submit your latest 3 months’ payslips to show proof of income. If your income includes allowance, then HDB would need the latest 12 months’ payslips. Your income is determined at the time of your application for BTO and the months leading up to it.
Previous Property Ownership
New HDB BTO flats are aimed at helping couples without a property find a place to stay. Thus, there are some previous property ownership restrictions. You cannot apply for an HDB BTO flat if you own a property (even if it is overseas), and have not sold this property within the last two and a half years.
Also, a Singapore citizen cannot apply for an HDB BTO flat if he/she owns or owned more than one of the following properties (prior to BTO application):
- Flat bought from HDB
- EC/DBSS flat purchased from developer
- HDB resale flat purchased using a CPF Housing Grant (applicable only to first-timer applicants)
2. Balloting For Your HDB BTO Flat
Now, for one of the most important parts of the HDB BTO flat application process, the ballot. After getting more information about the new HDB flat such as the location, price, designs and number of units of flats offered from HDB InfoWEB, you can submit your flat application online using the HDB InfoWEB portal.
Following your application, HDB will conduct a ballot to determine who will successfully obtain their BTO flat. If you’re really lucky, you may get your desired BTO flat on your first bid.
Areas such as Bedok, Kallang and Bidadari (Toa Payoh) are especially hard to get. So if you manage to get a BTO flat at these places, good for you! If not, there is no cause for alarm. HDB imposes no limits on the number of times you can submit a bid. Thus, you can always keep trying.
Finally, upon getting a successful ballot, you will be invited to book a flat and to sign the agreement for lease. This is when you will actually have to pay the downpayment for your property. The actual amount differs based on the type of loan you take. For more details, please refer to the table under the section “Fees involved”.
3. Housing Loan for HDB BTO Application
To finance the purchase of your new flat, you are probably going to take up a loan. This is excluding those of you whose parents are sponsoring your house or you have an obscene amount of savings. For most of us though, taking a loan will help finance the purchase of our HDB BTO flat. This will also likely be one of the biggest financial commitments of your life so it’s good to compare the options out there before making a decision.
There are 2 main options, which are an HDB loan and a bank loan, each with its own set of pros and cons. We will examine these below.
Interest Rates
The interest rates are what you will be paying each month on the loan. HDB usually requires you to pay a higher rate of interest at approximately 2.6%, as compared to the interest rates for banks, which can range from 1.6% to 2%.
How do you determine this interest rate?
For CPF, the interest rate is pegged at 0.1% above the CPF Ordinary Account interest rate. On the other hand, for banks, the interest rates are based on the SIBOR (Singapore Interbank Offered Rate) and SOR (Swap Offer Rate). Therefore, the interest rates are variable and fluctuate according to market conditions, accounting for the range of interest rates.
While it may appear that HDB loans have higher interest rates, you may choose it if you want a relatively stable and certain interest rate. If you want a lower rate of interest in the near term, bank loans may be a better option.
Loan-To-Value Ratio and Downpayment
Loan-to-value ratio. Sounds cheem right.
Actually, the concept is very not difficult. It simply is the amount that HDB or the banks are willing to lend you based on the value of your property.
For HDB, they can lend up to 90% of the valuation of the property. Conversely, banks can provide a loan of up to 75% of your flat’s value.
As a result, for HDB loans, you would have to fork out the remaining 10% of the value of the HDB flat as downpayment for the BTO flat. Accordingly, for bank loans, you would need to provide a 25% downpayment. For both loans, you can pay your downpayment using CPF. However, for the bank loan, at least 5% needs to be from cash.
You also don’t need to have the necessary funds at the time of application. This because you only have to pay the downpayment when you sign your agreement for lease and this occurs after your HDB BTO flat application.
Repayment of Loan
If you wish to repay your loan early, you may incur additional penalties. Under a bank loan, you may have to pay fees of up to 1.5 per cent if you provide early repayment within the lock-in period. The reason for this is that banks want to get a certain amount of interest out of the loan.
However, if you borrow from HDB, there are no early repayment fees. You simply have to send in a notice to HDB one month in advance to let them know you would want an early redemption or discharge of the loan.
On the other hand, what if you are late in your paying your monthly instalments? You will be charged 2% above the Ministry of Finance’s average Prime Lending Rate, based on the current HDB guidelines. This is currently at 7.5% per annum. For banks, they will charge a minimum of $50 for each late repayment and the late charges can amount to 24% per annum.
4. Fees Involved in Applying for BTO
There are quite a lot of fees and costs involved in an application for an HDB BTO flat. It’s thus easy for one to lose track of all those fees. To help you better understand the costs involved, here is a summary of the fees that you have to pay:
No. Type of Fee Amount Payable by CPF
1 Application Fee $10 No
2 Option Fee $500 for 2-room flexi flat, $1,000 for 3-room flat and $2,000 for 4 or 5 room flat and Executive flat No
3 Downpayment 10% to 20% (Depending on whether HDB or bank loan) Yes
4 Stamp Duty on Agreement for Lease 1% for 1st $180,000, 2% for 2nd $180,000, 3% for remainder of purchase price Yes
5 Stamp Duty on Deed of Assignment (Only if you take a bank loan) 0.4% of the loan amount, subject to a maximum of $500 Yes
6 Registration Fees $38.30 Yes
7 Conveyancing/Legal Fees $0.90 per $1,000 for the first $30,000, $0.72 per $1,000 for the next $30,000 and $0.60 per $1,000 for the remaining amount Yes
8 Caveat Registration Fees $64.45 Yes
9 Survey Fees Ranges from $150 to $375 (Depending on type of flat) Yes
10 Fire Insurance Ranges from $1.50 to $7.50 (Depending on the type of flat) No
11 Home Protection Scheme/Insurance Variable (Depending on factors such as the insured member’s age, outstanding loan amount, interest rates and coverage sought) Yes
12 Renovation Costs Variable No
5. Grants available for HDB BTO Flat Applications
With the rising prices of HDB BTO flats, I’m sure we will all be glad to get all the financial help we can get. If you’re a first-time applicant who hasn’t received a housing subsidy from HDB before, you’re in luck. You can make us of HDB grants to help subside the cost of your HDB BTO flat.
For HDB grants, in the past there was the Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) and Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG). Each of these were up to $40,000, which the actual amount of grant depending on your average monthly household income and sales launch timing.
The AHG and SHG are now replaced by the new Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG). To qualify for EHG, your average gross monthly household income 12 months before your HDB BTO application cannot exceed $9,000. Calculation of grant amount is dependent on your household income.
Some of you may be thinking of applying for an HDB BTO flat when you are still studying. However, to qualify for EHG, either you or your partner must have worked continuously for 12 months before the BTO application. Also, that person must still be employed at the point of flat application. Thus, the ideal time to apply is if one of you has just started working while the other is studying. Then, both of you would maximise the amount of AHG and SHG subsidies that you can get.
Please also note that other HDB grants such as Family Grant and Proximity Housing Grants are only available for resale HDBs.
6. Types of HDB BTO to Apply For in Singapore
Should you get a 3, 4 or 5 room flat? This would ultimately be a balancing of many factors. You would have to consider if, for example, you want to have more space or would be willing to have less space for a cheaper option. Here is an extract from the HDB website about the sizes and details of the different types of flats:
7. MOP Period of HDB BTO
For those who intend to sell their HDB in the future, you have to consider the minimum occupation period (MOP). The MOP for your HDB BTO flat is currently five years. Thus, you must stay in your BTO flat for a period of at least five years. This starts when you have collected the keys to the flat and excludes periods for which the whole flat is rented out. During the MOP, you cannot sell your unit or purchase any kind of new residential properties.
Of course, there are some exceptions. In some extreme and special cases, HDB may grant special approval for the owners to let go of their flat within the MOP. However, don’t count on this. HDB is generally strict with such approvals and will not allow homeowners to abuse the system. Nonetheless, if you are facing serious financial difficulties or are undergoing divorce proceedings, you may apply to HDB to waive the MOP.
8. No Second Thoughts Once You Successfully Apply for BTO
Your HDB BTO application isn’t something you should take lightly. If you decide to withdraw from the purchase of your BTO flat, you’ll incur some sunk costs. The amount of charges you have to pay depends on the stage you are at for the BTO application process.
If you’ve been given an option to purchase your HDB BTO flat and you’ve paid the requisite option fee, you will forfeit your option fee. You will also be disallowed from applying for another HDB flat. This starts from the date of cancellation of your BTO and ends after a year.
However, you stand to lose even more if you’ve already signed the agreement to lease. At this point, you would likely have paid your downpayment. Thus, you would have to forfeit this amount and be banned from applying for a new flat for the next year. In addition to that, if you’ve also taken up a bank loan, you may face cancellation penalty fees as well.
There are clearly significant costs of withdrawing from your BTO completion. Thus, you and your fiancé/fiancée should be really committed to each other before applying for a new BTO flat together.
9. Investment Potential of HDB BTO Flat
Some of you may be thinking of an HDB BTO application as a way of getting into real estate investing. However, if you intend to sell your BTO flat in the future, you will incur a resale levy.
You have to pay a resale levy if you sell your subsidised flat and then buy a second subsidised flat from HDB. Nonetheless, you won’t have to pay the resale levy if your subsequent purchase is a resale HDB flat, DBSS flat or private residential property.
If you still insist on selling your HDB BTO flat, it is best to do it earlier rather than later. This is because potential buyers may not be able to qualify for a bank loan if the HDB tenure is 60 years or less. Also, the government has made it clear that for most flats, the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme will not apply.
This means that upon the expiry of the 99-year lease term, the government will not buy back the property from you. In other words, the value of the leasehold flat will drop to zero and the land will return to the state. Thus, potential buyers will be wary of buying flats left with shorter leases.
10. Collecting Your Keys
Now, all that’s left for you to do is to wait for HDB to notify you to collect your keys. Generally, there is a waiting period of three to four years. That’s a long time. So you should start planning for your HDB BTO flat early on, especially if you intend to get married or start a family anytime soon.
Once you’ve collected your keys, it’s time to move in! And you finally get to enjoy living out of your very own HDB BTO flat.
Conclusion
Applying your new BTO flat in Singapore doesn’t have to be difficult. If you’ve read this article thoroughly, you’ll now know the eligibility criteria, grants available and other useful information about your HDB BTO application.
Hopefully, with this newfound knowledge and tips, you can go ahead to apply for your very own BTO flat more confidently and assuredly.
If you’re not sure whether to buy BTO or resale, here are some considerations to help you decide between BTO and resale HDB flats.
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