EXECUTIVE CONDOMINIUMS

New Launch EC Eligibility Criteria

Family Unit, Income Ceiling, NPS and DPS Explained!

15 April 2023

Edric Ho
Writer, Editor & Data Geek

EC Eligibility Criteria

The New EC Eligibility Criteria in a nutshell

HDB EC Eligibility Criteria

If you are looking to purchase a New Launch Executive Condominium (EC), there are a number of eligibility criteria and also income assessment guidelines to be aware of.

In this article, we will cover the most frequently asked topics for buyers who are new to the guidelines of new ECs.

How A New EC Launch Works

First, a quick overview on how EC Launches work.

EC Land Plots are sold by HDB, and information on currently available and upcoming land plots for Developers to bid on is made available on HDB's website at this link: HDB Government Land Sales and also the One Stop Developer's Portal.

Some EC Land Plots are first placed in the Reserve List, meaning that they are not released for tender immediately, but are made available for application instead. A site on the Reserve List will be put up for tender only when a developer has made a successful application, with a minimum price which is acceptable to the Government.

Some EC Land Plots will be placed directly on the Tender List, which allows Developers to submit an application to buy the Land Plot within a Tender Period specified by the authorities as part of the specifications of the Tender.

Once the Land Plot has been awarded to a Developer, there is a mandatory 15-month wait period, during which the Developer is not allowed to sell the units, nor market the project, or make available any project information such as Project Name, Floorplans, Pricing etc.

See here for more information: 15-month waiting time for EC launches stays: MND, The Straits Times, Jan 2016

During the 15-month wait period, the Developer will commence activities such as construct the showflat, work with their Architects/Brand Consultants to create the design concepts of the residential project.

Once the 15-month wait period is up, the Developer will commence the showflat Preview and typically also run a Press Release in the papers with starting prices/psf per unit categories ahead of the start of the Preview period. 

See here for a video explainer on How EC Price Release Works

HDB EC Eligibility Criteria

Please note that the Eligibility Criteria for buyers of a New EC are determined and set by HDB, hence do refer the guidelines at HDB Website for more information : HDB Executive Condominium Eligibility

The EC Eligibility Criteria are as follows:

(1) General Eligibility Criteria

CriteriaDescription
CitizenshipYou are a Singapore Citizen. Your family nucleus must comprise at least another Singapore Permanent Resident or Singapore Citizen.
Age21 years old and above
Family NucleusYour household must comprise 1 of the following groups:

• You and your fiancé or fiancée
• You and your spouse, and child(ren)
• You, your parents and siblings. If you are an unmarried/ widowed/ divorced Singapore Citizen (SC) buying an EC with parents, at least 1 of your parents must be a SC or Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR).
• You and your child(ren) under your legal custody, care and control (for widowed/ divorced persons). If the care and control of your child is shared with your ex-spouse, you must obtain his/ her written agreement before you may list your child in an EC application.
• You and your siblings who are orphans and single, i.e. unmarried, divorced or widowed persons@ may apply for an EC unit with the following criteria:
• All your siblings are listed in the same application, and they are not applying for/ owning/ renting a flat separately.
• At least 1 of your deceased parents was a SC or SPR.
• You and up to 3 other singles as core applicants
Household StatusYou and the essential family members listed in the application for purchase of the flat must not:

• Be the owners of a flat bought direct from HDB, a DBSS flat or an Executive Condominium bought with CPF Housing Grant from the developer
• Have sold a flat bought direct from HDB, a DBSS flat or an Executive Condominium bought with CPF Housing Grant from the developer
• Have received the CPF Housing Grant for the purchase of an HDB resale flat
• Have taken other forms of housing subsidy (for example, benefitted under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme, privatisation of HUDC estate etc)
Monthly household income ceilingThe total income of all persons listed in the EC application must not exceed $16,000.

You will be guided by the property developer on the submission of documents, such as income documents, when you book an EC unit.
Wait-out period before applying to buy an EC unit from a property developerCancellation of application after booking a flat from HDB
If you have booked a flat from HDB and subsequently cancel your flat booking, you must wait out a 1-year period from the date of the cancellation before you may apply or be listed as a core occupier to buy an EC unit from a property developer.

Termination of the Sale and Purchase Agreement for an EC unit
If you had previously bought an EC unit from a property developer with a CPF Housing Grant and subsequently terminated the Sale and Purchase Agreement, you must wait out a 5-year period from the date of the termination before you may apply or be listed as a core occupier to buy an EC unit from a property developer.

Owners/ Ex-owners of an EC unit bought from a property developer
If you currently own or have recently disposed of your ownership in an EC unit, you must wait out a 30-month period from the date of disposal of the EC unit before you may apply or be listed as a core occupier in an application to buy another EC unit from a property developer, subject to other eligibility conditions.

(2) Household Family Nucleus

SchemeFamily Nucleus
PublicYou, the applicant and:
– Your spouse, and children (if any)
– Your parents, and siblings (if any)
– Your children under your legal custody, care and control (for widowed/divorced)
Fiance/FianceeYou, the applicant, and your fiance/fiancee (Marriage cert is required within 3 months of collecting keys to your unit)
OrphanYou, the applicant, and your unmarried siblings
Joint Singles SchemeYou, and up to 3 other co-applicants, and all of you are:
– Single (unmarried, divorced or widowed)
– Singapore Citizens
– At least 35 years old
– Applying jointly as co-applicants

Please note that the CPF Housing Grant for singles is not available when buying an EC

(3) Fulfil MOP Criteria

Type of PropertyTime Period Before You Can Apply for a New EC Unit
• HDB flat bought from HDB or on the open market
• DBSS flat bought from the developer
MOP (Minimum Occupation Period) of 5 years
• EC unit bought from the developerMOP of 5 years + 30 months from date of EC disposal

Sample EC eApplication Form

Buyers who are interested to apply for a New EC will need to fill in an Application Form, that will cover information such as Buyers' Names, NRIC, work information, income for the assessment period, residential address, and whether they are first or second timers.

This information will help form part of the assessment of the eligibility of the buyers and will also allow Buyers to be given a Ballot Ticket to Ballot for the New EC.

Click here to see a sample EC Application Form.

SEE SAMPLE EC APPLICATION FORM

Income Assessment for New EC

To purchase a New EC, all applicants will have to submit their income documents for a period of 12 months, 2 months preceding the month of Application for the New EC.

For example, if the month of Application for a New EC is in June 2024, then the applicants will need to submit their payslips for the months of May 2023 to April 2024.

Do note that ALL components in the payslips ARE to be included for Income Assessment.
Only Bonus(es) are excluded. For eg, Reimbursement/Claims, Overtime, Director Fees are to be considered.

How the household income is assessed is that monthly gross income values (along with relevant income components) are added up within the assessment period and divided by 12.

The household income includes all income of applicants & core occupiers.
All children below 21 years old have to be included as occupiers. Children above 21 years old do not need to be included as occupiers.
For children below 21 years old, if they are full time students or NSFs, their income will not be considered in the calculation of gross monthly income.

At this point of time of writing, the income ceiling is $16,000 (if your income exceeds $16,000, please contact us here)

Resale Levy

As part of the purchase process, buyers of a New EC may also be required to pay a Resale Levy.

The Resale Levy is only applicable for buyers who have previously enjoyed a housing subsidy before, i.e. they have purchased either a BTO/SBF directly from HDB, or purchased a Resale HDB and took a CPF Housing Grant (except if they took a Proximity Grant).

To be clear, when owners of a subsidised unit sells their unit away, they do not need to pay the Resale Levy. They can go on to purchase any other form of housing unit (where applicable) such as another Resale HDB or private residential units.

The Resale Levy is only payable when they wish to purchase the 2nd Subsidised Housing Unit, i.e. another BTO/SBF or a New EC.

In this case, the Resale Levy that is payable will be assessed based on the type of their first subsidised housing unit, not that the one that they intend to buy,

See this video for an explainer on how the Resale Levy works.

How Resale Levy Works

See the HDB Website for more details on the Resale Levy.

Subsidised flat sold on or after 3 March 2006

If the first subsidised flat was sold from 3 March 2006 onwards, buyers will pay a fixed amount of resale levy as follows:

First Subsidised Housing TypeResale Levy Amount
HouseholdsSingle Grant recipients
2-room flat$15,000$7,500
3-room flat$30,000$15,000
4-room flat$40,000$20,000
5-room flat$45,000$22,500
Executive Flat$50,000$25,000
Executive Condominium$55,000Not applicable

Subsidised flat sold before 3 March 2006

If the first subsidised flat was sold before 3 March 2006, a percentage graded resale levy will apply (see below table for more details).

If sellers had opted to defer the payment of the resale levy until you buy another flat from HDB, an interest at a prevailing rate of 5% per annum is charged.

First Subsidised Housing TypeResale Levy Amount
Based on resale price of the sold flat, or 90% of its market valuation, whichever was higher
HouseholdsSingle Grant recipients
2-room flat10%* or 15%5%* or 7.5%
3-room flat20%10%
4-room flat22.5%11.25%
5-room flat and Executive25%12.5%

HDB EC CPF Housing Grants

Applicants of a New EC may also apply for CPF Housing Grants; however the housing grants are only applicable for First Timers buyers. Second Timers are not eligible for Housing Grants.

The amount of Housing Grant for applicants is dependent on their combined income, as follows:

Average Gross Monthly Household Income*Family GrantHalf-Housing Grant#
SC/SC HouseholdSC/SPR Household
$10,000 or lower$30,000$20,000$15,000
$10,001 to $11,000$20,000$10,000$10,000
$11,001 to $12,000$10,000Nil$5,000
$12,001 to $16,000NilNilNil

General Policies for New ECs

The following policies are valid with effect from 9 May 2023.

  1. SPR will be receiving grants from 9 May 2023 onwards. For eg, SC 2nd Timer, SPR 1st Timer, the SPR will receive HALF of the SC/SPR Grant. The Top-Up grant will then be HALF if the SPR converts to SC later on.

  2. SC Child as applicant with SC Parents (1st Timer) as Essential Occupiers, Child will receive HALF of the Grant, Parents will receive HALF of the Grant, even as occupiers. Parents as Essential Occupier will have to pay Resale Levy AND considered to have ENJOYED 1 SUBSIDY.

  3. SC Child + 1 SC Parent as applicants, 1 SC Parent as Essential Occupier, Grant will go to BOTH Parents and Child is not considered as enjoy 1 subsidy.

  4. The household income includes all income of applicants & core occupiers.
    All children below 21 years old have to be included as occupiers. Children above 21 years old do not need to be included as occupiers.
    For children below 21 years old, if they are full time students or NSFs, their income will not be considered in the calculation of gross monthly income.

  5. For Joint-Single Schemes, a widowed age requirement is 21 Years Old instead of 35. For eg, a Single SC 35 years old can buy with a Widowed 28 Years Old under JSS.

  6. CPF Housing Grant, if utlitised, can be used for Future Private Property purchase. If Grant is not utilised, then CANNOT use for Private Property Purchase. For eg, SC Husband as applicant, SC wife as Occupier, both will receive the Grant. But Wife's Grant Amount cannot be used for future private property purchase.

  7. Divorced with Interim Judgement is good enough to book a EC under Public Scheme (with Child). Divorced buying under Fiance/Fiancee Scheme MUST have Final Judgement.

  8. ALL components in the payslips ARE to be included for Income Assessment. Only Bonus(es) are excluded. For eg, Reimbursement/Claims, Overtime, Director Fees are to be considered.

HDB EC Payment Schemes : NPS and DPS

Purchasers of a New EC can choose between 2 payment modes : the Normal Progressive Payment Scheme (NPS) and Deferred Payment Scheme (DPS).

The NPS payment structure will require payment from buyers as per each construction stage of the project, with the Developer calling for payment and buyers furnishing either Cash, CPF or Loan.

As for the DPS structure, it only requires that buyers pay the first 20% of the unit purchase price, along with the Buyer's Stamp Duty and Legal Fees. The next payment of 65% is only required at TOP.

HDB EC BSD and ABSD

For buyers of a New EC (and also for all residential/commercial/industrial properties), it is required to pay Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD) within 14 days of Exercising the OTP.

See : Buyer's Stamp Duty, IRAS

See : All About Stamp Duties

 

Refer to the following table for BSD rates based on the purchase price of the New EC.

ABSD

Buyers of a New EC, even if they own a HDB at the point of purchasing the EC unit, will not have to pay Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD).

This because buyers are required to sell their HDB within 6 months of the New EC reaching TOP (Temporary Occupation Permit).

Buyers Stamp Duty 15 Feb 2023

HDB EC MOP and Privatisation Period

For all EC Projects, once the development has been issued a TOP (Temporary Occupation Permit) date, the MOP (Minimum Occupation Period) of 5 years will commence.

During the MOP Period, owners of the EC unit are not allowed to sell the unit (unless with explicit permission from HDB), and cannot rent out the whole unit; although they are allowed to rent out rooms.

Once the MOP Period has been met, the EC Project is semi-privatised, and the unit can then be sold in the open market to Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents, including Singles.

At the same time, owners of the EC unit can also choose to decouple and allow one of the owners to purchase other residential properties without incurring ABSD.

See here for a video explainer on How Decoupling Works.

After a further 5 years from MOP, i.e. 10 years from the project TOP, the EC development becomes fully privatised and all units can be sold to Foreigners as well.

HDB EC MOP Timeline

HDB EC Manner of Holding

Purchasers of a New EC can choose their Manner of Holding when they are Exercising the Option To Purchase, typically done at a law firm.

The Manner of Holding can be Joint Tenancy, i.e. both owners will hold the unit in 50%-50% equal shares.

Alternatively, the owners can also choose Tenancy in Common, in which each owner is free to choose how much shares he/she will hold. One example would be to hold the property in 99%-1% share distribution, which will help reduce fees if the owners intend to Decouple their ownership in future.

Do note that the percentage of shares owned by each owner does not determine how much he/she can contribute towards the payment of the property.

See here for a video explainer on How Decoupling Works.

HDB EC Manner of Holding

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