Frequent Asked Questions on Executive Condominium

Section A： Eligibility FAQs

  1.    I am a Singaporean, 35, can I buy a new build HDB BTO, DBSS or EC alone?

If you are age 35 and above, you can buy any HDB resale flat.  However for new flat (direct purchase) from HDB,

* You can only buy a new 2 Rm Flexi flat in a non-mature estate alone. Your average household income shall not exceed $7000/mth. You can check HDB website on the eligibility conditions to purchase  

* There is no single scheme for DBSS  

* There is also no single scheme for EC.  However, you can buy an EC under the Joint Singles scheme with another single, also age 35 and above.

2.     I am a local, 33, can I purchase a new EC with either my father or mother?   

If you are below 35 years of age, you need to form a valid family nucleus in order to buy an EC. 

You can purchase an EC with both your parents listed as joint applicants or as essential occupiers of the flat.  You can purchase an EC with either your father or mother if they are legally separated (divorce or death of one partner). 

Whether your parent(s) is listed as applicants or essential occupiers, the same home ownership rules applies to them. i.e 

-  If your parent(s) have an interest in another existing HDB flat, they must sell their existing flat within 6 months of TOP.   

-    If your parent(s) have an interest in a private property, they must dispose the private property and wait for a period of 30 months before they can apply for a EC jointly with you. 

3.     I am a SC and my partner is applying for his/her SPR.   Do we have to wait 3 years before we can apply for an EC?  If not, how soon we can put in our application? 

SC/SPR household is treated as a citizen household and you do not have to wait 3 years before applying for an EC unit. 

The earliest you can put in your application to purchase an EC is when your partner received the SPR approval notification letter that has the ‘blue’ IC number stated. 

4.     I have a commercial property under my name.  Can we still apply for EC? 

You can apply but the application is subjected to HDB approval. You will need to submit an appeal together with the application and additional processing fees. The success rate is dependent of the number of commercial properties owned and whether it is for own use or rental income.  

5.     We currently own a HDB flat bought from the resale market.   Are we eligible to apply an EC whose estimated TOP will fall after our MOP? 

If you have not bought a flat directly from HDB before, it will depend whether CPF housing grant was taken for the purchase of resale flat and the timing when the purchase was completed.

If CPF Housing Grant was taken, you have to wait till your MOP is met before you can apply for an EC. 

If no CPF housing grant was taken and the purchase of the HDB resale flat was completed before 12 Feb 2019, you can apply for an EC whose estimated TOP will fall after your MOP period.  

6.    My MOP is a few more months from now; I am afraid my choice unit will be sold by the time MOP is met and/or my household income will exceed the income ceiling in the forthcoming salary adjustment, can we book an EC unit before MOP?  

The decision to accept your booking ahead of MOP lies with the developer. Different developer may have different acceptance timeline. Some will not accept any booking before MOP, some will accept x weeks ahead of MOP while other may accept x months ahead. 

An appeal letter needs to drafted by the applicants and be submitted to the developer.  The acceptance by the developer does not constitute a firm booking; the final acceptance is still by HDB.   

In the event the appeal is rejected by HDB, the booking fees will be refunded in full and the applicants will have to re-submit a fresh application when their MOP has been met. The bright side to look at is the developer may be able to reserve your choice unit till your MOP been met.  

If your adjusted salary exceeds the ceiling when the MOP is met, a fresh appeal together with the application will need to be submitted to the developer and HDB for acceptance and approval. (See Qn A.7)

7.     My household income exceeded the income ceiling marginally, can we still apply for an EC? What is the success rate?

An appeal will need to be drafted as long as you exceeded the ceiling income, even by the smallest amount of $1. Any appeal will be subjected to acceptance by Developer first before it being forwarded to HDB review and acceptance.   Check with the marketing agent first whether developer will accept your application before investing your time and effort to appeal.  In general, Developer do not accept appeal duirng the initial launch stage and also for remarketed units. 

The success rate is on case by case basis.  In general, where the excess household income is less than $500 above the ceiling cap, the success rate is high for applicants with good justified appeal. 

8.    Our total household income is about $14,000. Our eldest child will start working soon. Will our child’s income (est. $3,500) be included in the total household income computation? Will that disqualify us to purchase a new EC?

The household income is computed based on the valid family nucleus income.  

The valid family nucleus is formed if both of you are listed as applicants and your child as occupier. Both your income will be treated as total household income and you are eligible to purchase an EC under this scenario.

However, if your child is listed as an applicant and either/both of you listed as applicant/essential occupier, the household income will need to include your child income and you will be disqualified to apply for a new EC.

9.     I have joint ownership of a private condo with my child. My child is getting married soon and if his/her name is taken out from joint ownership of this private condo, does he/she still need to wait for 30 months before he can apply for a new EC? 

Yes, your child will need to wait for 30 months before he/she can apply for an EC  

Do note that if your child CPF monies has been used to pay for the private condo, you need to pay back his/her contribtion of CPF amount plus accrued interest.   

10.  In what situation will HDB reject application for new EC beside the prevaling housing income ceiling? 

If applicants meet all the eligibility criteria, HDB is not likely to reject the application. Most rejections are from untruthful declaration by applicants and also income ceiling/MOP appeal cases.  

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