You will check your eligibility with HDB's own process and record what it tells you.
Everything in this module so far has been your own reading of the rules. Farah and Hakim's notes said they should be eligible for a resale flat, with a few possible grants and an HDB loan. That is useful for planning, but a seller won't grant you an option on a flat because your notes look promising. HDB wants its own answer first.
That answer is the HDB Flat Eligibility letter. This exercise walks through getting one, or, if you aren't ready to apply, running the same checks yourself. Allow about 25 minutes for the reading and the note, plus whatever time the application itself takes.
The HDB Flat Eligibility letter, often called the HFE letter, is HDB's assessment of your household before you buy. It tells you three things: whether you can buy a flat, and which types; which CPF housing grants you may receive, and how much; and whether you can take an HDB loan, and up to what amount.
You need it before you apply for a new flat in a sales launch, and before a seller can grant you an option to buy a resale flat. So it isn't optional for HDB buyers. It is the first formal step, and a good reason to apply early: everything later in the process waits for it.
You apply on the HDB Flat Portal, logging in with Singpass. Everyone in the application will need to log in and give consent, so agree a time with your partner or co-applicants.
HDB will ask about your household, your citizenship, any property you own or have sold, and your income. For employees, much of the income information comes from CPF contribution records, but you may still be asked for payslips or an employment letter. If you are self-employed or have commission income, have your IRAS notices of assessment and recent statements ready. Hakim pulled together a year of payslips that showed his commissions, because his CPF records alone didn't explain why his pay moved.
Declare the overseas property question honestly. Hakim's old apartment, sold years ago, went into the form. An undeclared property found later can cost you the flat.
HDB tells you how long the assessment usually takes. During that time it may ask for more documents, so check the portal and your email. Don't book viewings you can't act on until the letter arrives. A seller who wants to grant an option this week won't wait for your assessment.
When the letter comes, read it the way you would read a bank offer. Farah and Hakim went through theirs with a pen.
The flat types section tells you what you can buy, new and resale. Check that the flat you actually want is on it. The grants section lists each grant with an amount. Compare it with your own list from lesson 2.2, CPF housing grants: who qualifies and where the money goes. If a grant you expected is missing, the letter or the portal usually gives the reason, often income or a past property. The HDB loan section gives the maximum loan HDB would offer you. That is HDB's figure only. A bank loan, and the limits that apply to it, are a separate question for module 4.
Then find the validity date. The letter is valid for a set period, and your plans have to fit inside it. For a new flat, that means applying in a launch before it expires. For a resale flat, it means getting an option and completing the purchase in time. If it lapses, you apply again, and your income or the rules may have changed by then.
You might be a year or more away from buying. You can still do the checks yourself, using HDB's eligibility pages, grant pages and loan pages with your own figures. Work through the same three sections as the letter: flat types, grants and loan. For each, write your answer and the rule on the HDB page that gave it.
Mark the note clearly as a self-check, with the date you did it. When you do apply, compare your self-check with the real letter. Where they differ, find out why. That is usually where your understanding of a rule was off.
Here is the note Farah and Hakim wrote from their letter. All figures are examples.
Eligible to buy: new flats and resale flats, all the types they were considering. Grants: the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant and the Family Grant at the amounts stated, and the Proximity Housing Grant only if they bought within the distance of Farah's parents' flat set by HDB. HDB loan: eligible, with a maximum loan amount stated in the letter. Validity: the expiry date, written in red at the top of the page, with a reminder set two months before it.
They added one line underneath: "The resale flat in Bedok is about 1.5km from Farah's parents. Confirm on the HDB map that it counts as near before relying on the Proximity Housing Grant."
A finished eligibility note fits on one page. It lists the flat types you can buy, every grant with its amount and the condition attached, whether you can take an HDB loan and up to how much, and the validity date. It says whether it comes from an HFE letter or a self-check. In the activity below, you'll write that note for your own household.
Apply for or simulate your HDB Flat Eligibility letter and write an eligibility note listing flats, grants, loan eligibility and the validity date.
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