Buying a new EC in Singapore: eligibility, financing and the application process

• Who will be listed in the application, with each person's citizenship, age and marital status
• The average gross monthly income of everyone listed
• Any housing subsidy anyone listed has taken before: a flat from HDB, a resale flat bought with a CPF housing grant, a DBSS flat, an EC from a developer, or benefits such as SERS
• Any private residential property owned or disposed of in the last 30 months, and any non-residential property
• Any cancelled HDB flat booking, terminated EC purchase or EC owned or sold, with the dates
• The cash and CPF Ordinary Account savings you can use for the first 20% and the costs on top
• The loan a bank will approve in principle
• The land tender closing date of the EC you are considering

1. 1

   Find the land tender date

   When did the EC's land tender close?

   This date decides the income ceiling, the minimum occupation period and how long resale buyers must be citizens or PRs. HDB publishes a list of upcoming EC developments with each site's tender dates and successful tenderer, and URA SPACE shows each sale site with its date of award.

   For Solano Grand at Senja Close, the tender closed on 5 August 2025, so the earlier rules apply: what is confirmed about Solano Grand.

2. 2

   Check the household

   Does your household form an eligible group?

   The applicant must be a Singapore citizen aged at least 21 and include at least one other citizen or PR: a fiancé or fiancée; a spouse and children; parents and siblings; children under your legal custody, care and control if you are widowed or divorced; or orphaned single siblings. Two to four singles may apply together if all are citizens aged at least 35.

   HDB assesses eligibility on the core family nucleus. Core members must stay in the application and live in the EC throughout the minimum occupation period; their names cannot be removed.

3. 3

   Check the income

   Is the household within the ceiling for this EC?

   The ceiling counts the income of everyone listed. It is $16,000 a month for new units in EC sites with tenders awarded before 24 August 2026, and $18,000 for EC projects with tenders closing on or after that date. The developer guides you on the income documents to submit when you book.

   Adding a parent or sibling to the application adds their income too.

4. 4

   Check what you own

   Do you own, or have you recently sold, any other property?

   No one listed may own or have an interest in private residential property in Singapore or overseas, or have disposed of one in the 30 months before applying, counted from the legal completion of the disposal. ECs count as private residential property here. Property inherited, received as a gift, held through nominees or on trust counts too.

   For EC land sales launched on or after 9 May 2023, the household may own not more than one non-residential property, such as a shop or office.

   If anyone listed owns an HDB flat, it must be disposed of within 6 months of collecting the EC's keys. Buying an EC before selling your HDB sets out how the sale, the funding and the dates fit together.

5. 5

   Check subsidies, the levy and wait-out periods

   Have you taken a housing subsidy before?

   Buying a new EC from the developer counts as taking a housing subsidy. Anyone who has taken one before is a second-timer and pays the resale levy that applies to them. Anyone who has taken two cannot apply or be listed as a core occupier.

   HDB also sets wait-out periods: a year after cancelling an HDB flat booking; 5 years after terminating the purchase of an EC bought with a CPF Housing Grant; and 30 months after disposing of an EC you or your spouse owned.

6. 6

   Check the grant

   Will your household receive a CPF Housing Grant?

   At least one core member must be a first-timer, meaning someone who has not taken any housing subsidy. A first-timer citizen couple may receive up to $30,000 at $10,000 a month or less, $20,000 up to $11,000 and $10,000 up to $12,000; a citizen and PR couple, $20,000 or $10,000; a first-timer and second-timer citizen couple, up to $15,000. Nothing is given above $12,000 a month.

   HDB credits the grant to the eligible core members' CPF Ordinary Accounts, and it can be used for the price or to reduce the loan. First-time buyers considering Solano Grand have a checklist of their own.

7. 7

   Pass the bank's test

   How much will a bank lend?

   HDB's rules decide whether you may buy; the bank decides the loan. EC loans come from banks and other financial institutions. MAS caps repayments on all property loans at 30% of gross monthly income while the EC is within its MOP, and all debt repayments at 55%. With no other housing loan outstanding the bank may lend up to 75% of the price, with at least 5% paid in cash; lower limits apply with an outstanding housing loan, a tenure over 30 years or a loan that runs past age 65.

   Ask a bank for an in-principle approval before the booking day. It tests repayments at its own assessment rate, so the loan your income supports can be less than the price needs.

8. 8

   Follow the steps from launch to keys

   What happens, and when do you pay?

   HDB's process for buying an EC from the developer has six steps: the sales launch; the application to the developer (by ballot or walk-in selection, the developer's choice); the outcome; booking, when the developer grants the Option to Purchase and you pay a 5% option fee, and grant applicants submit the EC application form, the CPF Housing Grant form and supporting documents to the developer; signing the sale and purchase agreement, with the 15% balance downpayment by CPF or cash; and key collection when the project is completed.

   The option is in a form set by the Executive Condominium Housing Scheme Regulations 2016. It stays open for 3 weeks after the title deeds and the draft agreement reach your solicitors, and it cannot be amended without the Minister's approval.

   After signing, the rest of the price falls due in stages. EC payment schemes explained: NPS vs DPS sets out the schedule.

9. 9

   Plan for the years after buying

   What can you not do during the MOP?

   The core occupiers must live in the EC throughout the MOP. The whole unit may be rented out only after the MOP; bedrooms may be rented within it if registered with HDB within 7 days. Owners may buy private residential property only after the MOP.

   After the MOP the unit can be sold on the open market, to citizens or PRs only until 10 years from TOP for an EC with a 5-year MOP (15 years for a 10-year MOP). Selling an EC and then buying a subsidised flat from HDB or another new EC brings a resale levy of $55,000 for families or $27,500 for singles, where HDB's conditions apply.

Illustrations based on the stated assumptions, not forecasts.

• Assuming the $18,000 ceiling applies to every EC launched from now on. It applies only to projects whose tender closed on or after 24 August 2026.
• Assuming every EC now has a 10-year MOP. Sites tendered before 8 May 2026, including Solano Grand and Wynwood Grand, keep 5 years.
• Treating a first purchase as first-timer status. Status turns on earlier housing subsidies, as HDB defines them.
• Counting only the couple's income when a parent is also listed.
• Treating eligibility as loan approval.

• The EC's land tender closed on or after 8 May 2026: a 10-year MOP and 15 years before foreigners may buy.
• The tender closed on or after 24 August 2026: the ceiling is $18,000.
• One of you has taken a housing subsidy: a resale levy may be payable and the grant is smaller.
• Someone listed owns or has sold private residential property in the last 30 months: the household cannot apply yet.
• You buy a resale EC after its MOP instead: no income ceiling, no grant and no resale levy.

1. 1.The developer: which land tender does this project come from, and when did it close?
2. 2.HDB: which income ceiling applies to my application, and whose income is counted?
3. 3.HDB: as a second-timer, what resale levy will I pay on this purchase?
4. 4.My bank: what loan will you approve in principle, at your assessment rate and within the 30% mortgage servicing ratio?
5. 5.My lawyer: what stamp duty and legal fees are payable, and when?

The questions this page is the starting point for, each answered on its own page.

1. GuideEC payment schemes explained: Normal Payment Scheme (NPS) vs Deferred Payment Scheme (DPS)When the price of a new EC falls due under the normal schedule the law prescribes, what a developer's deferred scheme changes and what it does not, and how a bank's bridging loan is a separate thing. Checked 20 October 2026.
2. GuideSolano Grand at Senja Close: what is confirmed and what buyers should assessCDL's executive condominium at Senja Close in Bukit Panjang: what the developer, HDB and URA have confirmed, what is still an estimate, and what has not been announced. Checked 20 October 2026.
3. GuideBuying an EC before selling your HDB: how valuation, bridging finance and timing work togetherHDB lets you buy a new EC while you still own your flat. Selling first or keeping the flat through construction changes where the money comes from, which value of the flat matters, what the bank lends and when the sale must happen. Checked 20 October 2026.
4. GuideFirst-time buyers considering Solano Grand: what to prepare before bookingA checklist for households buying their first home at Solano Grand: first-timer status, income, documents, the bank's test, the cash and CPF for the first 20%, the grant, the payment stages and where to live until the keys. Checked 20 October 2026.

Case studies and videos where this decision came up.

1. 1.
   Executive Condominiums: eligibility, CPF Housing Grant, process, finding an EC and conditions after buying

   Housing & Development Board · Period: Last updated 25 Aug 2026 · Extracted 20 Oct 2026

   Eligibility for Buying an Executive Condominium.

2. 2.
   Executive Condominiums: eligibility, CPF Housing Grant, process, finding an EC and conditions after buying

   Housing & Development Board · Period: Last updated 24 Aug 2026 · Extracted 20 Oct 2026

   CPF Housing Grant for an Executive Condominium.

3. 3.
   Executive Condominiums: eligibility, CPF Housing Grant, process, finding an EC and conditions after buying

   Housing & Development Board · Period: Last updated 8 Mar 2026 · Extracted 20 Oct 2026

   Process for Buying an Executive Condominium.

4. 4.
   Executive Condominiums: eligibility, CPF Housing Grant, process, finding an EC and conditions after buying

   Housing & Development Board · Period: Last updated 8 May 2026 · Extracted 20 Oct 2026

   Finding an Executive Condominium: sale on the open market.

5. 5.
   Conditions After Buying an Executive Condominium

   Housing & Development Board · Period: Last updated 28 Jul 2026 · Extracted 20 Oct 2026

   Conditions After Buying an Executive Condominium.

6. 6.
   Upcoming Executive Condominium (EC) development(s)

   Housing & Development Board · Period: Updated as of 2 Apr 2026 · Extracted 20 Oct 2026

   Tender dates and successful tenderers of upcoming EC sites.

7. 7.
   Executive Condominium Housing Scheme Regulations 2016

   Singapore Statutes Online, Attorney-General's Chambers · Period: Current version as at 20 Oct 2026 · Extracted 20 Oct 2026

   The prescribed option and sale and purchase agreement.

8. 8.
   Rules for new housing loans

   Monetary Authority of Singapore · Period: Last revised 16 Dec 2021 · Extracted 20 Oct 2026

   Mortgage servicing ratio and total debt servicing ratio.

9. 9.
   Rules for new housing loans

   Monetary Authority of Singapore · Period: LTV limits for options granted on or after 6 Jul 2018 · Extracted 20 Oct 2026

   Loan tenure and loan-to-value limits.

10. 10.
    Stamp Duties (HDB Flats and Executive Condominium Units) (Remission of ABSD) Rules 2013

    Singapore Statutes Online, Attorney-General's Chambers · Period: Current version as at 15 Oct 2026 · Extracted 20 Oct 2026

    Rules 4 and 5(a).