I just became a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR) in March 2023, while my fiance is a Singaporean. As I have not held my PR status for longer than 3 years, can we still apply for a BTO flat?
DollarsAndSense Answers:
Short answer is yes. You can apply for a BTO flat or buy a resale flat if you wish.
The longer answer, and perhaps more relevant because of the phrasing of your question is that since your husband-to-be is a Singapore Citizen, you do not need to worry about holding your PR status here for longer than 3 years.
However, first-timer households that comprise only 1 Singapore Citizen (i.e. your fiance) and 1 (or more ) Singapore PRs (i.e. you) have to pay a $10,000 premium when buying your BTO flat. You can subsequently apply for a Citizen Top-Up Grant when you obtain your Singapore Citizenship or have a Singapore Citizen child to get back the full amount.
Perhaps, there is a misunderstanding of the requirements to hold your PR status for longer than 3 years. This only applies to households that only consist of Singapore PRs. For couples who are both PRs in Singapore, they cannot apply for BTO flats even after 3 years of obtaining their PR status. Such couples can only buy HDB resale flats after holding their PR status for more than 3 years.
Read Also: [BTO Guide] Eligibility Criteria For Buying A HDB In Singapore
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I have a partner and we just started work for less than a year. We plan to apply for a HDB BTO and would like to ask when is the earliest possible time we can do so?
DollarsAndSense Answers:
Even though you can ballot with your partner for any of the BTO sales launches, you should only do so after carefully assessing your own financial situation and determining the size and location of flat you can actually afford to pay by the time the BTO is ready.
After you’re successful in balloting for a queue number and invited to select a flat, you’ll need a HDB Loan Eligibility Letter (if you’re taking a HDB loan) or Letter of Offer from the bank (if you’re taking a bank loan), as well as have enough cash and/or CPF to make your downpayment.
Banks have their own income and work history requirements, so do check with them if you qualify. If you’re interested in exploring a bank loan, you can use our landing page to get a quote on how much you’re likely to receive.
If you’re taking a HDB loan, the HDB Loan Eligibility Letter basically says that you meet the basic requirements for a HDB loan. Given your short work history, you are likely to qualify for only a small loan amount that may not cover the cost of the flat, after deducting grants and your downpayment.
That is fine, since the Loan Eligibility Letter is valid for 6 months from the date of issue anyway, so you will need to apply for another one before your key collection. You just need to ensure that by that time, you qualify for a higher loan amount, or have enough CPF and/or cash to pay for any shortfall.
You might be interested to know that from the May 2018 BTO sales launch onwards, eligible couples applying for their first flat can defer income assessment for their HDB housing loan until their key collection.
To qualify for this deferred income assessment, couples need to be either 1) full-time students; 2) National Servicement; 3) Completed their studies or National Service in the past 12-months before the flat application.
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DollarsAndSense Answers:
For all HDB BTO flats, the main applicant must be a Singapore Citizen.
If the co-owner is a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR), then they will be able to apply for BTO flats of all sizes under one of the schemes they qualify under – such as the Public Scheme, Fiance/Fiancee Scheme.
If the co-owner is not a Citizen nor a Singapore PR, then they can still apply for a 2-room BTO flat in a non-mature estate. However, the non-Citizen must be holding a valid Visit pass or Work pass at the time of application.
For more information about the other eligibility criteria (such as income ceiling, age and property ownership), you can refer to this article on DollarsAndSense.
Read More: [BTO Guide] Eligibility Criteria For Buying A HDB In Singapore