An HDB shophouse is a heartland commercial unit you own outright, not a flat you live in. You buy it on the open market from another owner, the lease runs the same 99 years as the surrounding estate, and the tax bill is nothing like a flat's. In June 2026, HDB shophouses listed on the major property portals were asking roughly S$1,500 to S$1,600 per square foot. You pay buyer's stamp duty of 1% to 5% on the commercial scale, often 9% GST on top if the seller is GST-registered, and a flat 10% property tax on the annual value every year you hold it. If the unit has living quarters, that part follows residential rates for stamp duty and property tax. This guide is the real cost stack: who can buy, the fees HDB charges, the taxes IRAS charges, and whether the rental yield justifies the cheque.
An HDB shophouse is a commercial property in the void deck or ground floor of an HDB block, or a standalone two-storey heartland shop, that you own rather than rent. Most people meet them as the minimart, clinic, hair salon or coffee shop at the bottom of their block. The owner holds the title and either runs a business there or leases it out for rental income.
Tenure matters more than the building. Almost every HDB shophouse sits on a 99-year leasehold that started when the estate was built, so a 1970s unit in a mature town may have only 40-odd years left while a newer one carries 80-plus. A short balance lease drags the price down and makes bank financing harder, because the loan tenure is capped against the remaining lease.
Do not confuse this with the conservation shophouses on Joo Chiat or Telok Ayer, which are private freehold or 999-year properties selling for tens of millions. An HDB shophouse is the working-class version: cheaper, leasehold, and bought for cashflow rather than trophy value. If renting one is your plan instead of buying, our guide to HDB commercial rental covers the tender route.
In June 2026 the major property portals listed roughly 615 HDB shophouse and commercial units for sale, so supply was steady rather than scarce. Price per square foot is the number to anchor on, because absolute prices swing wildly with size.
As a working range, listed HDB shophouses sat around S$1,500 to S$1,600 psf in June 2026, with mature-town corner units near MRT lines commanding more and short-lease or back-lane units less. The examples below are real listings; treat them as a snapshot, not a valuation, because commercial property is thinly traded and every unit prices on its own footfall.
| Unit type | Size | Asking price | Approx. psf | Tenure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground-floor shop, Sin Ming Road | 1,453 sqft | S$2.30m | ~S$1,583 | 99-yr from 1973 |
| 2-storey shophouse, Jurong East St 31 | ~1,600 sqft | S$2.50m | ~S$1,560 | 99-yr leasehold |
| Void-deck retail, mature town | 500-900 sqft | S$0.9m-S$1.5m | ~S$1,500-1,700 | 99-yr leasehold |
The eligibility bar is low compared with buying a flat. HDB's published criteria for buying a shop list no income ceiling and no citizenship requirement. The catch is any flat you already own: HDB limits shop purchases while a flat is still within its Minimum Occupation Period (MOP).
What HDB does require:
Update, 13 October 2026: HDB now lists a S$109 lodgement fee and a S$545 fee for applications it has to process, up from the S$107 and S$535 this guide first gave. You buy from the existing owner on the open market, usually through a commercial agent, then HDB processes the transfer. Applications go through the GoBusiness Licensing portal, and HDB states processing takes at least four weeks after all documents and payment are in.
HDB's own administrative charges are modest; the real money is the price and the taxes. As of October 2026 the published fees, including GST, are:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Lodgement scheme administrative fee | S$109 |
| Application HDB has to process (no lease issued, or a change of use) | S$545 |
| Outdoor refreshment area transfer | S$218 on top of the lodgement or application fee |
| HDB inspection or renovation records | S$327 |
If the unit is already on a registered lease, HDB lets the transfer run through the faster lodgement scheme. Unleased shops fall outside it and need a fresh Agreement for Lease, which is slower and pricier. So does a material change of use that HDB has to evaluate, such as a family restaurant or turning the living quarters into non-residential space. Confirm which track your unit is on before you sign anything, because it changes both timeline and cost.
HDB wants to know that no unauthorised structural works were done. For works completed before 1 October 2005 you can ask HDB for its records; for anything after that date a Qualified Person or accredited checker must verify the works. You can skip HDB's inspection only by engaging a Qualified Person or accredited checker to confirm the works meet legal requirements, and both seller and buyer must then submit a Declaration and Undertaking form. Inspection or not, HDB's terms hold seller and buyer jointly responsible for any unauthorised works found later.
Update, 13 October 2026: the stamp duty in the S$2.3m example below is about S$84,600, not the S$78,600 this guide first showed; the IRAS rates themselves have not changed. This is where an HDB shophouse parts ways with a flat. Three separate charges stack up, and buyers routinely under-budget the first two.
Buyer's stamp duty runs on the non-residential scale, which is lower at the top than the residential one but still meaningful. As of October 2026 the IRAS non-residential rates are 1% on the first S$180,000, 2% on the next S$180,000, 3% on the next S$640,000, 4% on the next S$500,000 and 5% on anything above S$1.5m. For a shop without living quarters, the whole price uses this scale and there is no Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty. A shop with living quarters is split: IRAS applies residential BSD rates to the value of the living quarters and non-residential rates to the rest, and HDB says the living quarters may count as a residential property for ABSD. Our BSD explainer and the stamp duty calculator let you run your own number.
GST is the trap. If the seller is GST-registered, 9% GST is chargeable on the commercial portion of the price as of October 2026. On a S$2.3m shop that is roughly S$207,000 on top of the price. Buyers who plan to lease the unit out often set up a GST-registered company or special purpose vehicle to claim that input GST back, but that only works if you charge GST on the rent and stay registered. A residential quarter attached to a shophouse is GST-exempt; only the commercial part is taxed. See our GST glossary entry for how the credit mechanism works.
Property tax is the annual cost. Commercial property is taxed at a flat 10% of its annual value, and owner-occupier rates do not apply even if you run your own business there. If the shop has living quarters, IRAS taxes that part at residential rates and only the commercial part at 10%. The annual value is IRAS's estimate of yearly market rent, so a shop that could rent for S$48,000 a year carries about S$4,800 in property tax. Read how annual value is set before you assume the headline AV.
| Charge | Basis | Approx. amount |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer's stamp duty | Non-residential 1-5% scale | ~S$84,600 |
| GST | 9% of commercial price | ~S$207,000 |
| Property tax (annual) | 10% of annual value | ~S$4,800/yr |
| HDB admin fee | Lodgement or application | S$109 to S$545 |
The case for an HDB shophouse is cashflow. A unit asking S$2.5m on Jurong East Street 31 in June 2026 advertised about S$10,000 a month in rent, roughly S$120,000 a year, a gross yield near 4.8% before tax and costs. That beats most HDB flat rental yields and many private condos.
Net yield is the honest number. Knock off the 10% property tax, maintenance, agent fees, vacancy gaps and the GST drag if you are not registered, and a headline 4.8% often lands closer to 3.5% net. The financing is also harder: banks lend against the shorter of the remaining lease and a standard commercial tenure, loan-to-value is typically lower than for a home, and you cannot use CPF to pay for commercial property at all.
Compared with buying a home to live in, the maths is a different sport; if you are weighing property as an owner-occupier instead, our rent-vs-buy calculator and the HDB vs condo comparison are the better starting points. An HDB shophouse only makes sense if you treat it as a business asset and price the lease decay in from day one.
Selling mirrors the buy side. You file the resale details online, or go through the managing agent if the unit sits inside a shopping or office complex. The lodgement scheme applies only if the unit is on a registered lease and no material change of use needs HDB's evaluation, so confirm your track early.
Expect an HDB inspection, or a Qualified Person's check plus a Declaration and Undertaking from both sides, to clear any works question, and the same processing time of at least four weeks. There is no Seller's Stamp Duty on commercial property, unlike residential, so a quick flip is not penalised the way a private home sale would be. Your buyer carries the BSD and any GST; your job is clean title, a verified lease balance and proof that the fit-out was approved.
HDB's published criteria and terms for buying a shop do not mention citizenship or residency. They require the buyer to be at least 21, need the Official Assignee's consent for an undischarged bankrupt, and bar owning a flat within its Minimum Occupation Period together with any shop that has living quarters, or a subsidised flat within its MOP together with more than one shop. HDB does not address foreign buyers on that page, so confirm with HDB before you commit.
You pay 9% GST (as of October 2026) on the commercial portion only if the seller is GST-registered. On a S$2.3m shop that is around S$207,000. Buyers leasing the unit out often register a company to claim that GST back, but a residential quarter in the same shophouse stays GST-exempt.
For a shop without living quarters, buyer's stamp duty uses the non-residential scale: 1% on the first S$180,000, rising to 5% above S$1.5m as of October 2026, with no Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty. For a shop with living quarters, IRAS charges residential BSD rates on the value of the living quarters, and HDB says that part may count as a residential property for ABSD.
The commercial part is taxed at a flat 10% of its annual value every year, with no owner-occupier rates. Living quarters are taxed at residential rates. If IRAS sets the annual value of a shop without living quarters at S$48,000, the property tax is about S$4,800 a year.
No. CPF savings cannot be used for commercial property of any kind, including HDB shophouses. You fund it with cash and a commercial loan, and banks usually lend at a lower loan-to-value and a tenure capped by the remaining 99-year lease.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.
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