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In Singapore, an HDB down payment is the initial amount of money you need to pay upfront when purchasing a flat from the Housing & Development Board (HDB). The down payment depends on factors such as the type of flat, your financing option (HDB loan or bank loan), and whether you’re buying a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat or a resale flat.
| HDB Type | Downpayment (% of House's Price) |
|---|---|
| HDB BTO Downpayment | 25% |
| Resale HDB Downpayment | 25% |
25% HDB Downpayment
How much downpayment for HDB? In 2025, the HDB housing loan and bank loan downpayments are the same - 25% of the price of your BTO or resale flat.
In the past, HDB loan used to have a lower downpayment than the banks’ home loans. That was an attractive draw. However, in August 2024, HDB announced it was lowering its loan-to-value (LTV) limit - basically the maximum HDB loan you and I can take - in an attempt to cool the hot property market. Directly linked to this is the increase of the HDB downpayment we have to pay.
Huh, how is that fair to us normal citizens who are earning low to middle incomes? You are basically asking us to fork out so much more in cash for the HDB loan downpayment.
Well, the government knew we’ll complain. So, at the same time, HDB increased their main HDB grant called the ‘Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG)‘ to a maximum of $120,000 for families, and $60,000 for singles.
When to Pay HDB Downpayment?
When to pay HDB BTO downpayment? If you are taking HDB loan for your BTO, you have to pay your 10% downpayment when you visit the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh to sign the Agreement for Lease. The other 15% of your downpayment will be paid when you visit HDB Hub again to collect your keys.
You can use cash or all CPF Ordinary Account savings (or a mix) to pay your BTO downpayment. If you got lucky with the CPF grants, they will be applied here to reduce your payable amount.
However, if you are taking a bank home loan instead, your downpayment will consist of a 5% cash (minimum), and 20% cash or CPF OA payment. Your CPF grants will also be applied here to reduce your initial payment.
When to pay resale HDB downpayment? It depends whether you are taking HDB loan or bank home loan. If you are taking a HDB loan, you’ll need to go on HDB My Flat Dashboard to confirm your financial plan, then the resale HDB downpayment will be deducted online from your CPF. If you are taking a bank home loan, your appointed bank loan lawyer will have to tell you when to pay.
There is a HDB resale downpayment calculator online (hyperlinked) where you can check how much cash or CPF you’ll need to prepare. However, you’ll need a HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) Letter to access this calculator.
HDB Staggered Downpayment
Now let’s get real. If the 10% first HDB downpayment is really too much for you to bear - what to do? Don’t have to give up your HDB flat ok? You can ask if you are eligible for the Staggered Downpayment Scheme. Here are the staggered downpayment breakdowns for both HDB loan and bank home loans:
| HDB Housing Loan | 1st Visit: Sign Agreement Lease | 2nd Visit: Collect Keys |
|---|---|---|
| HDB Staggered Downpayment Scheme | 5% | 20% |
| Usual HDB Loan Downpayment | 10% | 15% |
| Bank Home Loan | 1st Visit: Sign Agreement Lease | 2nd Visit: Collect Keys |
|---|---|---|
| HDB Staggered Downpayment Scheme | 10% (5% cash, 5% cash/CPF) | 15% |
| Usual Bank Loan Downpayment | 20% (5% cash, rest in cash/CPF) | 5% |
Young Couples 2.5% HDB Downpayment
- Scheme: Deferred Income Assessment, Staggered Downpayment Scheme
- First HDB Downpayment: 2.5% (from June 2024)
- Second HDB Downpayment: Remaining amount
- Only for: Fiance-Fiancee Scheme. Full time National Servicemen (NSFs), Students, Individuals who just completed studies or NS within 12 months (of applying for HFE). One applicant must be age 30 or below.
- Scheme: Staggered Downpayment Scheme
- HFE: HDB Flat Eligibility Letter
From the June 2024 BTO sales exercise onwards, young couples who are full time National Servicemen (NSFs), students, or have just completed their studies or NS within 12 months (of applying for HDB Flat Eligibility Letter, or HFE in short) will be able to defer income assessment when applying for a new HDB flat.
Their initial down payment when signing a house purchase agreement will also be reduced to 2.5% of the HDB BTO flat's sale price. Minister for National Development Desmond Lee announced these updates in parliament on 5 March 2024.
The changes seem to help younger couples to defer their income assessment so they can work for 12 months at least to qualify for a higher home loan amount and Enhanced CPF Housing Grants.
Usually, to qualify for the Enhanced CPF Housing Grants, at least one of the couple must have been continuously working for 12 months. This requirement may pose a challenge to non-working NSFs and students alike.
HDB’s current staggered down payment scheme allows young homebuyers (at least 1 party is under age 30) to pay their down payment in 2 instalments. If you were to stack the young couples’ deferred income assessment perk and the staggered downpayment scheme, this is how the downpayment schedule will look like:
| Young Couple Deferred Income Assessment | 1st Downpayment | 2nd Downpayment |
|---|---|---|
| No Loan | 2.5% | 97.5% |
| HDB Loan | 2.5% | 22.5% |
| Bank Loan | 2.5% | 22.5% |
If you, a young couple, are taking a HDB loan (refer to middle row of table), you will be paying 2.5% for your first downpayment when signing the Agreement of Lease, and the remaining downpayment when you collect your keys.