Owning an HDB and Condo at the Same Time in Singapore: 6 Factors to Consider

“Can I buy a condo if I own an HDB flat”, “Can an HDB owner buy a condo?”, and “Can I buy private property if I own an HDB flat?” are some common questions among homeowners and property investors. Primarily, these questions seek to answer if homeowners can own an HDB flat and a condo simultaneously.

Furthermore, HDB and condo resale prices have been increasing. According to HDB’s resale data for Q2 2022, the HDB resale price index (RPI) increased by 2.8% from 159.5 in Q1 2022 to 163.9 in Q2 2022. On the other hand, URA’s Q2 2022 statistics show that private residential property prices increased by 3.5%.

Considering the December 2021 property cooling measures which includes adjustments to the Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio, Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) threshold, and Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates, and the red-hot property market, how will these factors impact HDB flat owners who aspire to purchase a private condo? Let’s find out. 

Can an HDB Owner Buy a Private Property? Here Are the Key Considerations

If you’re an HDB flat owner and want to buy a private property, you’ll need to take into account the following rules and guidelines, in addition to taxes that need to be paid.

1. Minimum Occupancy Period (MOP)

When you purchase a Build-to-Order (BTO) unit directly from the Housing and Development Board (HDB) or a resale HDB flat from the open market, you are required to comply with the 5-year Minimum Occupancy Period (MOP).

Within this period, you are not allowed to:

• Rent out the residential property
• Dispose of the HDB BTO unit or an HDB resale flat via the open market
• Acquire any private property, either in Singapore or abroad

The MOP starts from the date you receive the keys to the HDB BTO unit or HDB resale flat. It excludes any period when you did not live in the property, like when the whole property is rented out or when there has been a violation of the MOP. However, please note that you risk paying fines of up to $50,000 or getting the HDB flat compulsorily acquired by the Government if you flout the MOP rules.

Notably, the duration of the MOP depends on the purchase mode, unit type and the date when you applied to purchase the flat. For details, please see the table below.

*For SERS flats announced on/after 7 April 2022, the MOP will be subjected to the amended guidelines. However, the MOP for SERS flats before 7 April 2022 will either be seven years from the date of selection or five years from the date of key collection.

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Note: When buying ECs for the first time, buyers need to comply with the 5-year MOP. After that, it can be sold to Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs). After 10 years EC will be privatised and can be sold to foreigners. Buyers of resale ECs do not have to comply with the MOP rule.

2. Citizenship or Residency Status

If you’re a Permanent Resident (PR) wondering, “Can I buy a condo and if I own an HDB flat?” the answer is no.

According to the HDB, even if they have fulfilled the MOP, PRs who own an HDB flat and their essential family members who occupy the unit must dispose of their HDB flat within six months of buying a completed or off-plan private residential property in Singapore.

Only Singapore Citizens have the privilege of owning an HDB flat and private condo at the same time. But they still need to comply with the MOP before they are allowed to purchase private residential property. They also can’t do it the other way, which is to buy private housing first and then an HDB flat, as they need to sell the private property after completing their purchase of an HDB unit.

However, not many Singapore Citizens are capable of buying private property while owning an HDB flat due to the large expenses involved.

3. Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD)

Whether you’re a Singapore Citizen, PR or foreigner, you will need to pay Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) when you buy a property in Singapore.

This tax will be computed depending on the purchase price stated in the document to be stamped, or the property’s market value, whichever is higher.

If you obtained a monetary discount in the selling price, it will be taken into account when calculating the BSD, provided that the net worth still reflects the property’s actual market value.

Please keep in mind that the cash discount must be stated in the instrument to be stamped, otherwise, it won’t be taken into account when calculating the buyer’s stamp duty. Below are the tax rates before and after 20 February 2018.

Assuming you purchased a $1 million private condo, you need to pay a Buyer’s Stamp Duty of $24,600. Here’s the breakdown:

 $1,800 (for the first $180,000) + $3,600 (for the next $180,000) + $19,200 (for the next $640,000) = $24,600. 

Although this is already a large amount, there is another more expensive stamp duty that you will definitely have to bear if you intend to keep an HDB flat and private condo at the same time.

[ArticleCallout]{
“title”: “Million-Dollar HDB Resale Flat vs a Condo in Singapore: Which Is Worth Buying? (2022)<br><a href=u0022https://www.propertyguru.com.sg/property-guides/author/editorialsgu0022></a>”,
“excerpt”: “We weigh the pros of cons of purchasing the different property types.”,
“link”: “https://www.propertyguru.com.sg/property-guides/million-dollar-hdb-resale-flat-vs-condo-67674”,
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4. Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD)

The Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) was originally introduced on 8 December 2011 by the authorities to rein in the strong property investment demand by Singapore Citizens and foreign buyers. Another reason for its imposition is to maintain the affordability of residential properties for locals and to let home prices increase sustainably along with economic fundamentals.

*From 9 May 2022, any residential property transferred into a living trust will be subjected to a 35% ABSD rate.

Given the ABSD rates above, a Singapore Citizen who currently owns an HDB flat, but wants to acquire a private condo costing $1 million needs to fork out an ABSD of $170,000 (17%). If you want to own a third property priced at $1 million, you need to spend another $250,000 (25%). Those are really huge sums compared to the BSD of just $24,600.

5. Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) 

The Monetary Authority of Singapore introduced the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework to prevent home buyers from loaning too much to finance the purchase of a property. The rules apply to all residential mortgages granted by all financial institutions in the city-state, including by banks, moneylenders, insurance firms and others.

For property loans where the OTP is granted on or after 16 December 2021, homebuyers can only loan up to 55% of their gross monthly income. The cap also takes into consideration all outstanding debts you have like car loans, personal loans, credit card balances and student loans. Banks even include small financial obligations such as gym memberships and monthly payments for appliances, when computing the amount it can lend you for a home purchase.

Basically, your monthly housing loan repayments plus ALL of your other monthly financial obligations cannot surpass 55% of your monthly income.

For example, if your monthly salary is $10,000 and you have no existing debts, then you can spend up to $5,500 to service your monthly instalments for a housing loan.

But if you currently spend $2,000 to repay outstanding debts, you can only borrow up to $3,500 if you want to buy a private condo.

6. Loan-to-Value (LTV) Ratio

The LTV is adjusted based on the number of outstanding loans a person has. According to the latest rules from MAS, you can only borrow up to 75% if the loan term doesn’t exceed 30 years, or 55% if the loan tenure surpasses 30 years or if the maturity happens when the borrower is more than 65 years old. That’s just for the first housing loan.

Rules on LTV Limits and Minimum Cash Downpayment

*Take the lower LTV limit only if the loan tenure exceeds 30 years (or 25 years for HDB flats), or if the loan period extends past the borrower’s age of 65.

If you have a current residential mortgage and want to take out another loan to buy a second property, then the LTV is either 25% or 45%. This means that if you are still currently paying the loan for your HDB flat and you want to buy a private condo costing $1 million, you can only loan up to $250,000 or $450,000. The remainder of $550,000 or $750,000 must be paid through either cash or CPF savings. Ouch.

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To give you more detailed calculations of how the above rules and taxes impact you if you really are strongly considering buying a private condo, in addition to your existing HDB flat, we laid out some examples.

What Is the Most Affordable Option?

Let’s assume that Mr A and Mrs B, who are married Singapore Citizens, presently own a five-room HDB flat in Bedok costing $580,000. They have resided there for six years and took out a $475,000 loan with a tenure of 20 years from HDB.

If the happy couple wants to buy a private condo costing $1 million, below is the financial breakdown of such a transaction:

Based on the above table, the total amount the couple needs to spend upfront is nearly half a million dollars.

Although you can tap your CPF savings to pay for the minimum cash downpayment component, please bear in mind that you can’t use all of it. You still need to set aside a Basic Retirement Sum​ of $96,000 for members who turned 55 on or after 1 January 2022. ​For more details, please check out the CPF website.

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This means you need to have lots of savings if you want to buy a condo, while you are still paying for your HDB loan.

On the other hand, you can get more LTV of 55% or 75% from banks if you have finished paying first for the HDB loan. If you take this route, your upfront cost will be significantly lower.

As shown by the above two examples, the best way of purchasing a condo is to finish repaying first your HDB loan, as your initial investment for the private property will be more bearable.

If you’re looking for a home loan, we recommend you speak with one of our mortgage experts for in-depth and unbiased advice to help you navigate the market.

You may also want to browse our HDB resale flats or private condos for sale. If you need someone to assist you with a property deal, kindly engage a licensed property agent or query them instead via AskGuru.

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