OhGuide: Benefits for Singapore Citizens & PRs’ RESIDENTIAL Arrangements

HOME Sweet Home! A place truly dears to ourselves and our loved ones. A place we can call home. However, at this moment, housing price in Singapore is truly around its all-time high. Frankly speaking, this issue has been a hindrance for foreigners to settle in Singapore, be it to rent or to buy.

Topic on Singapore housing price and HDB units availability has been hot debated online and offline; everyone has his/her own stand. To cater different needs, property developers come out with more so-called mickey mouse or shoebox flats - which are below 500 sq ft - on the market.

Despite of the pricing and availability issues, we need to prepare ourselves with the correct information so that we can come out with a wiser decision; whether to buy or rent HDB units or condominiums, the criteria to own a HDB unit, whether the housing subsidies and scheme can entice us to convert our citizenship. The previous article has briefly discussed the differences in housing subsidies and scheme for Citizens and PRs.

For more details, let us take a look at the following table. The information provided is also useful for people who currently own HDB units; what kind of mortgage loan they can rely on, how much they need to pay for HDB flats upgrading project, the criteria to upgrade their units.

Types of Residence	Singapore Citizen	Singapore Permanent Resident
Private Residential Non-landed / Private Apartments (e.g. condominiums)
Purchase	Eligible	Eligible
Rental	Eligible	Eligible
Private Residential Landed Property (e.g. bungalows, semi-detached house & terrace house)
Purchase	Eligible	Eligible (*)
Rental	Eligible	Eligible
Public Housing (apartments developed by Housing & Development Board [HDB])
Purchase of subsidised new flats (2/3/4/5-rooms & Executive Flats)	Eligible (**)	Not eligible
Purchase of subsidised new flats (Executive Condominiums)	Eligible (***)	Not eligible
Purchase of subsidised new flats (Studio Apartments)	Eligible (#)	Not eligible
Purchase of resale flats	Eligible	Eligible (Subject to HDB’s eligibility schemes)
Rental of subsidised flats from HDB	Eligible (##)	Not eligible
Rental of a room / flat from Home Owners	Eligible	Eligible
Eligibility for Central Provident Fund (###) (CPF) housing grant	Eligible	Not eligible
Main Upgrading Programme (^) (MUP)
Eligibility for main upgrading subsidy Eligible (^^)		Not eligible (^^^)
Eligibility for HDB concessionary interest rate for payment for upgrading cost for MUP	Eligible	Not eligible (+)
Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP)
Eligibility for lift upgrading subsidy	Eligible	Not eligible (++)
Eligibility for HDB’s concessionary interest rate for payment for upgrading cost by installment for LUP	Eligible	Not eligible (+++)
Mortgage Loans
Eligibility for mortgage loans from HDB (at a concessionary interest rate pegged at 0.1% above CPF Ordinary Account interest rate) (Subject to eligibility conditions set by HDB)	Eligible	Not eligible (+=)
Eligibility for mortgage loans from financial institutions / banks	Eligible	Eligible

Notes***

(*) Prior approval from the Minister for Law is required for a foreign person to acquire or purchase restricted residential property ie. private landed property. The approval form can be downloaded from the Singapore Land Authority.

(**) The main applicant must be a Singapore Citizen and at least 21 years old at time of application. The family nucleus must comprise a Singapore Citizen or a Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR).

(***) The main applicant must be a Singapore Citizen and at least 21 years old at time of application. The family nucleus must comprise a Singapore Citizen or a Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR).

(#) The main applicant must be Singapore Citizen and at least 55 years old at the time of application. If there are other applicants such as spouse, parents, siblings or children, they must be Singapore Citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents and are of 21 years old at time of application.

(##) The applicant must be a Singapore Citizen. At least one of the proposed occupiers listed in the application must be either a Singapore Citizen or a Singapore Permanent Resident.

(###) The CPF is a social security savings plan for both Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents in Singapore where both employer and employee make monthly contributions to this fund. The coverage for this fund includes retirement, healthcare, home ownership, family protection needs and asset enhancements.

(^) The Main Upgrading Programme (MUP) includes improvements that are made to the precinct, and within the blocks and flats.

(^^) The amount of subsidy depends on the flat type and whether the flat owner has previously enjoyed any upgrading subsidy under the MUP.

(^^^) A Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) owner who has been billed for the full upgrading cost after the completion of MUP works can claim reimbursement of the upgrading subsidy provided the SPR owner obtains his or her Singapore Citizenship within one year from the date of billing of the upgrading cost, and the claim is made within one year of obtaining the citizenship. In addition, he or she must still be the owner of the flat at the time of the reimbursement.

(+) Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) households who wish to convert their interest scheme from the HDB market interest rate to concessionary interest rate if any of the SPR flat owner(s) obtains Singapore Citizenship (SC) must do so within one year from the date of billing of the upgrading cost. The interest rate on the outstanding upgrading cost will be converted to the prevailing HDB concessionary interest rate from the first day of the month following the date the SPR flat owner obtains SC.

(++) HDB will reimburse Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) households with the upgrading subsidy if any of the SPR flat owners obtain Singapore Citizenship within one year from the date of billing of the upgrading cost. The SPR flat owners must still be the owner of the flat at the time of the reimbursement.

(+++) Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) households will be charged the HDB market interest rate. They can convert their interest scheme from the HDB market interest rate to the concessionary interest rate if any of the SPR flat owner(s) obtains Singapore Citizenship (SC) within one year from the date of billing of the upgrading cost. The interest rate on the outstanding upgrading cost will be converted from the HDB market interest rate to the prevailing HDB concessionary interest rate from the first day of the month immediately following the date which the SPR flat owner obtains his or her SC.

(+=) SPR flat owners who have refinanced their HDB loan with the bank (as well as those SPR flat owners who had taken bank loans upfront for the purchase of their flat), cannot refinance that bank loan with HDB after they have obtained Singapore Citizenship even if they are eligible for an HDB concessionary loan. Instead, they can enjoy the HDB concessionary loan when they next purchase an HDB flat, subject to their loan eligibility at the point of application.