An HDB maisonette is a double-storey (duplex) flat with bedrooms upstairs and living areas downstairs, sized around 1,400 to 1,600 sq ft, far bigger than today's flats. HDB stopped building executive maisonettes in August 1995 and replaced them with the executive condominium scheme, so every one you can buy now is on the resale market and at least 30 years old. That single fact drives the whole money decision: with 99-year leases that started in the 1980s and early 1990s, most maisonettes have roughly 50 to 65 years of lease left, which limits how much CPF and bank financing you can use and caps how much the flat will appreciate. In 2026 they still sell well, with records like a Bukit Timah maisonette at $1,501,550 and a Bishan unit at about $1.588 million, but the median is far lower and the maths only works if you treat it as a spacious home to live in, not an asset to flip. This guide covers what a maisonette is, the 2026 prices, the financing traps, the grants, and the honest verdict.
A maisonette is a two-storey HDB flat, a duplex inside a high-rise block. You walk in on the lower level to a living and dining area, kitchen and usually one bedroom or study, then climb an internal staircase to the bedrooms above. The two most common types are the 5-room maisonette (around 1,450 sq ft) and the larger executive maisonette, or EM, which averages roughly 1,540 sq ft and runs as wide as 2,300 sq ft for some penthouse-style units. To put that in perspective, a new 5-room BTO today is about 1,184 sq ft, so a maisonette gives you the floor area of a small landed home inside an HDB.
The layout is the draw. You get a clear split between the public ground floor and the private upper floor, high ceilings in some blocks, and balconies or extra utility rooms that newer flats no longer have. People who own them rarely sell because nothing being built now matches the space for the money.
These are not in any HDB sales launch. HDB built executive maisonettes mainly from the early 1980s and stopped in August 1995, switching to the executive condominium scheme to provide large homes through private developers instead. So a maisonette is a resale-only purchase, and the flat you buy will be 30 to 45 years old. If you are new to the buying process, start with the property pillar guide for how HDB purchases work end to end.
The names get mixed up, so here is the plain version. A maisonette refers to any duplex HDB layout. An executive maisonette (EM) is the largest of these, an Executive-class flat built as a two-storey unit. A jumbo flat is different: it is two adjacent flats that HDB combined into one large single-storey unit in the late 1980s, not a duplex. A 3Gen flat is a modern four-bedroom flat for three generations, also single-storey, and HDB still builds those.
If you want a true duplex with the upstairs-downstairs feel, you are looking specifically for a maisonette or executive maisonette. If you only want raw floor space on one level, a jumbo flat or a 3Gen flat may suit you and, in the 3Gen case, can still be bought new from HDB.
All of these except the 3Gen flat are discontinued, which is exactly why they command a premium. Buyers who value the configuration have few alternatives, so prices for the rare layouts hold up even as the leases run down.
| Type | Layout | Typical size | Still built? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-room maisonette | Two-storey duplex | ~1,450 sq ft | No (stopped 1995) |
| Executive maisonette (EM) | Two-storey duplex | ~1,540 sq ft (up to ~2,300) | No (stopped 1995) |
| Jumbo flat | Single-storey, two flats merged | ~1,500-1,900 sq ft | No (1980s only) |
| 3Gen flat | Single-storey, 4 bedrooms | ~1,238 sq ft (115 sqm) | Yes |
| 5-room BTO (today) | Single-storey | ~1,184 sq ft | Yes |
Every HDB flat starts with a 99-year lease, and the clock never resets. A maisonette completed in 1988 has about 61 years left in 2026; one from 1992 has roughly 65 years; some of the oldest are already under 55 years. This is the single number that should drive your decision, because it controls how much you can borrow, how much CPF you can use, and how much the flat will be worth when you eventually sell.
CPF rules turn on a single test: whether the remaining lease covers the youngest owner to age 95. If it does, you can use your CPF Ordinary Account up to the lower of the purchase price and the valuation. If it does not, CPF usage is pro-rated, capped at the lower of price or valuation multiplied by the remaining lease divided by (95 minus the youngest buyer's age), and CPF cannot be used at all once the remaining lease is under 20 years. A 35-year-old buying a flat with 55 years left, for example, will be 90 when the lease runs out, short of 95, so their CPF usage is pro-rated downward.
Bank financing tightens on the same logic. Banks want the remaining lease to cover the youngest borrower to age 95; when it does not, they cut the loan-to-value ratio, sometimes to around 55 percent, and for very short leases they may decline a loan entirely. An HDB loan caps loan-to-value at 75 percent (lowered from 80 percent on 20 August 2024) and also has its own lease requirements. The practical effect: the older the maisonette, the more cash you need upfront because CPF and the loan cover less. Run your numbers with the HDB loan calculator and check the lease term against your age before you fall in love with a unit.
Prices swing hugely by town, lease and floor. The headline-grabbers are the records: in May 2025 an executive maisonette at Block 3 Toh Yi Drive in Bukit Timah sold for $1,501,550 (1,657 sq ft, about $906 per sq ft), the highest HDB resale price in Bukit Timah. That national maisonette record was overtaken in July 2025 when a Bishan executive maisonette (1,755 sq ft) sold for $1.588 million, the highest price paid for a maisonette islandwide. A Pasir Ris executive maisonette hit $1.26 million (1,603 sq ft, about $786 per sq ft), a town record there. These are top-end, high-floor units, not the norm.
The honest median sits far below that. Across Singapore in mid-2026 there were around 700 executive maisonettes listed for sale, with mid-market asking prices commonly in the $800,000 to $1.1 million band depending on town and lease. Older maisonettes in non-central estates with shorter leases can be found well under $1 million; some have changed hands in the $600,000s in recent years. Per square foot, maisonettes often trade below newer 5-room flats because the lease is shorter, even though the absolute quantum is higher thanks to the size.
That gap matters for your budget. You are buying a large home at a high total price but a lower psf, with a shorter lease eating into financing. Model the full purchase, including the 25 percent you must fund through cash and CPF on an HDB loan, with the mortgage calculator, and factor the buyer's stamp duty on a million-dollar quantum, which is not trivial.
| Location | Price | Size | PSF | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toh Yi Drive (Bukit Timah) | $1,501,550 | 1,657 sq ft | ~$906 | May 2025 (BT record) |
| Bishan | $1.588 million | 1,755 sq ft | ~$905 | Jul 2025 (islandwide record) |
| Pasir Ris Drive 1 | $1.26 million | ~1,603 sq ft | ~$786 | town record |
| Typical mid-market listing | ~$800k-$1.1m | ~1,450-1,600 sq ft | varies | Jun 2026 |
Maisonettes are scattered across the estates built up in the 1980s and early 1990s, so where you buy decides both the price and the lease left. The deepest pools sit in the northeast and east, where HDB put up large blocks of Executive-class flats during that period. Hougang, Tampines, Pasir Ris, Bishan and Choa Chu Kang each hold dozens of units, while central and prime towns like Bukit Timah, Queenstown and Bukit Merah have only a handful, which is part of why a unit there sets records.
Pasir Ris is a quirk worth knowing: a few blocks there were built with nothing but maisonettes, four to a floor, so you can find whole stacks of duplexes rather than the usual one or two per block. If the duplex layout is the whole point for you, towns with real inventory give you a choice of floor, facing and lease rather than taking whatever single unit comes up.
Quantum tracks the town more than the size. Northern estates like Woodlands and Yishun sit at the affordable end, often well under $700,000, while the same floor area in Bishan, Bukit Timah or Queenstown can run past $1 million for a comparable lease. The figures below are indicative asking ranges from mid-2026 resale listings, not valuations; always pull the latest transacted prices for the exact block before you offer, because a high floor or a fresh interior moves the number a lot.
| Town | Typical size | Indicative asking range |
|---|---|---|
| Woodlands / Yishun | ~1,520-1,670 sq ft | ~$470k-$690k |
| Jurong West / Jurong East | ~1,510-1,710 sq ft | ~$470k-$870k |
| Hougang / Sengkang | ~1,430-1,940 sq ft | ~$495k-$1.0m |
| Tampines / Pasir Ris / Bedok | ~1,475-2,034 sq ft | ~$425k-$890k |
| Bukit Batok / Bukit Panjang / Choa Chu Kang | ~1,507-2,314 sq ft | ~$480k-$900k |
| Bishan / Toa Payoh / Serangoon | ~1,539-2,142 sq ft | ~$535k-$1.14m |
| Bukit Timah / Queenstown / Bukit Merah | ~1,496-2,067 sq ft | ~$816k-$990k |
The sticker price is only part of what you hand over on completion. Buyer's stamp duty (BSD) is unavoidable and it is meaningful on a maisonette, because most sit in seven-figure territory. IRAS charges BSD on a tiered scale on the price or valuation, whichever is higher: 1 percent on the first $180,000, 2 percent on the next $180,000, 3 percent on the next $640,000, 4 percent on the next $500,000, then 5 percent above $1.5 million. On a $1,000,000 purchase that works out to $24,600; on a $1,500,000 maisonette it is $44,600. You cannot pay BSD with a loan, though you can use CPF to reimburse yourself after settling it in cash. Most first-timer owner-occupiers pay no additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) on their one HDB flat.
Cash-over-valuation (COV) is the other line item, and it is back in force. Since 2014 buyers no longer see the official valuation before agreeing a price; you negotiate, secure the option to purchase, then request the HDB valuation. If the agreed price comes in above valuation, the gap is COV and it must be paid in cash on top of your down payment, because CPF and your loan only work off the lower valuation figure. On sought-after maisonettes in mature estates, COV can run into five figures, so budget for it rather than assume the price equals the valuation.
If you have owned a subsidised flat before, there is a third cost: the HDB resale levy. A maisonette is an Executive-class flat, so a second-timer who took a housing subsidy on an earlier flat owes a fixed levy, set at the point of buying the next subsidised flat. The levy only bites if your next purchase is itself subsidised (a BTO or a resale flat with a grant); buying the maisonette with no grant and a bank loan avoids it. Work the full outlay, stamp duty included, through the stamp duty calculator before you commit.
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BSD on $1,000,000 | $24,600 | Cash first; CPF reimbursement allowed |
| BSD on $1,250,000 | $34,600 | Tiered: 1/2/3/4/5% |
| BSD on $1,500,000 | $44,600 | 5% applies above $1.5m |
| Resale levy (Executive flat) | $50,000 | Second-timer buying another subsidised flat |
| Cash-over-valuation (COV) | Varies | Price above valuation, paid in cash |
A maisonette is a renovation project, not a move-in. Most units are 30 to 45 years old, so wiring, plumbing, the internal staircase and the original layout often need work, and the second storey adds cost a single-level flat never carries. You are reworking two floors, sometimes opening up double-height spaces, and the staircase alone is a structural item that a standard 5-room reno does not have. Hacking is restricted too: HDB rules on which walls can come down apply, and the staircase usually cannot move.
The trade-off is that the volume gives you room to do things a flat cannot, which is why maisonettes show up so often in renovation features: tall libraries, mezzanine studies, generous kitchens, play areas on the lower floor. Budget realistically. A light refresh of an older maisonette starts in the low five figures, but a full gut-and-rebuild across two storeys can run well past $80,000 to $100,000 depending on finishes and how much structural and electrical work the unit needs. Get quotes against the actual unit before you commit, because an old duplex can hide expensive surprises behind its size.
Factor the renovation into your cash plan from the start. It comes out of cash and CPF, not your housing loan, so it sits alongside the down payment, BSD and any COV. A spacious flat you cannot afford to fix is a false economy.
The space comparison that makes maisonettes look cheap is against private property. A 1,540 sq ft condo in a non-prime area can cost two to three times what an equivalent maisonette costs, because you are paying for a fresh 99-year (or freehold) lease, facilities and a private address. That is the genuine appeal: maisonette buyers get landed-home floor area at HDB prices.
The catch is that you are not comparing like for like. The condo carries a longer lease and easier financing; the maisonette gives you the space now but on a lease that is already a third or more gone, with monthly conservancy charges instead of condo maintenance fees, and no pool or gym. For an owner-occupier who wants room to live and does not care about facilities, the maisonette wins on value. For anyone weighing the flat as a long-term asset, the condo's lease and liquidity advantages are exactly what the maisonette gives up. If you are torn between staying in public housing and upgrading, walk through the trade-offs in the HDB vs condo comparison.
Because maisonettes only exist on the resale market, the rules are the standard HDB resale eligibility rules, not anything special to the flat type. You buy under a scheme such as the Public Scheme (a family nucleus) or, if you are unmarried and at least 35, the Single Singapore Citizen Scheme. At least one buyer must be a Singapore Citizen, you must not own other property within the disposal window, and you apply for an HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter before you commit. The full checklist is in the HDB flat eligibility (HFE) guide.
There is no income ceiling to buy a resale flat with cash or a bank loan, so high earners can buy a maisonette freely. The $14,000 monthly household income ceiling only applies if you want an HDB concessionary loan or the resale grants. So a couple earning $20,000 can buy a maisonette, but they will need a bank loan and they will not get a cent of grant money.
Once you buy, the 5-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) applies from the date you collect the keys, the same as any resale flat. During MOP you cannot rent out the whole flat or buy private residential property. After MOP you can sell to any eligible buyer on the open market, which is a real advantage over restricted types like the 3Gen flat that can only be sold to multi-generation families.
First-timer families buying a resale maisonette can stack up to $200,000 in grants, though the full amount only lands if you are on a low income and live with parents. The headline $230,000 maximum you may see quoted applies only to a 4-room or smaller flat, where the Family Grant is $80,000; a maisonette is a 5-room or larger flat, so its Family Grant is capped at $50,000, which brings the realistic ceiling to $200,000. The three grants are the CPF Housing Grant (Family Grant), the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) and the Proximity Housing Grant (PHG).
The CPF Housing Grant (Family Grant) pays first-timer families up to $50,000 for a 5-room or larger resale flat, which is the bracket every maisonette falls into, with a $14,000 income ceiling. The Enhanced CPF Housing Grant adds up to $120,000, scaled by your average gross monthly household income over the past 12 months, but you only get any EHG if that average is $9,000 or below and the flat's remaining lease covers the youngest buyer to age 95. That lease condition is the catch for maisonettes: many older units do not stretch to age 95 for a young buyer, which can zero out the EHG even if your income qualifies.
The Proximity Housing Grant pays $30,000 for living with parents (or your married child) or $20,000 for living within 4km of them. A big maisonette is a natural fit for moving parents in, so the $30,000 tier is realistic. Add it up and a low-income first-timer family living with parents in a maisonette with enough lease could see $50,000 plus $120,000 plus $30,000. Most buyers will get far less, and many maisonette buyers, being higher earners or second-timers, get nothing. Trace exactly which grants your purchase qualifies for with the HDB housing grants guide.
| Grant | Maximum (families) | Main condition |
|---|---|---|
| CPF Housing Grant (Family Grant), 5-room or larger | $50,000 | Income $14,000/month or less |
| Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) | $120,000 | Avg income $9,000/month or less; lease covers youngest to 95 |
| Proximity Housing Grant (PHG), living with parents | $30,000 | No income ceiling |
| Proximity Housing Grant (PHG), within 4km | $20,000 | No income ceiling |
A maisonette is worth it if you want a large home to actually live in for a long time and you go in clear-eyed about the lease. For a family that needs the space, the value per square foot is hard to match anywhere else in the HDB market, and the duplex layout is something no new flat offers. If you buy with a long lease (say 60-plus years left), can fund the higher cash component, and plan to stay 15 to 20 years, the maths is reasonable.
It works against you if you treat it as an investment or a stepping stone. Lease decay is relentless: as the remaining lease shrinks, the pool of buyers who can finance the flat with CPF and a bank loan shrinks too, which weighs on price growth and resale liquidity. A maisonette bought today with 55 years left will be much harder to sell in 15 years with 40 years left, when banks pull back and younger buyers cannot use full CPF. The psf premium you pay for the layout is not guaranteed to grow.
The clean way to decide is to compare it against the alternative you would otherwise buy. A new or newer 5-room flat has a fresh or longer lease and easier financing, but less space; a resale maisonette gives space now at the cost of a faster-decaying asset. Stress-test both against your cash flow, then weigh the trade-offs in the BTO vs resale comparison. Buy the lifestyle if you love the space and will stay; do not buy it expecting it to behave like a fresh-lease flat in the resale market.
An HDB maisonette is a two-storey duplex flat, with living and dining areas downstairs and bedrooms upstairs, connected by an internal staircase. The common types are the 5-room maisonette (around 1,450 sq ft) and the larger executive maisonette (about 1,540 sq ft, up to roughly 2,300 sq ft). HDB built them mainly from the early 1980s and stopped in August 1995, so they exist only on the resale market today.
HDB stopped building executive maisonettes in August 1995 and shifted large-home supply to the executive condominium (EC) scheme, letting private developers build big units instead. That is why maisonettes are a discontinued, resale-only flat type. Their scarcity, combined with floor areas no new flat matches, is exactly why they still command premium prices three decades later.
Mid-market executive maisonettes were commonly listed around $800,000 to $1.1 million in mid-2026, with older non-central units found below that. Top-end records are far higher: a Bishan maisonette set the islandwide record at $1.588 million in July 2025, edging past a Bukit Timah unit that sold for $1,501,550 in May 2025 (about $906 per sq ft), while a Pasir Ris unit went for $1.26 million. Those are high-floor outliers, not the median.
Most have roughly 50 to 65 years left in 2026, since they were built in the 1980s to mid-1990s on 99-year leases that never reset. A 1990-completed flat has about 63 years left; the oldest are already under 55 years. The remaining lease is the most important number to check, because it controls your CPF usage, your loan, and the flat's future resale value.
Partly, and it depends on the lease. You get full CPF only if the remaining lease covers the youngest buyer to age 95; otherwise CPF is pro-rated by the remaining lease divided by (95 minus the youngest buyer's age), and no CPF can be used once the lease is under 20 years. The HDB loan-to-value limit and a bank loan are likewise pro-rated down from the standard cap when the lease does not reach age 95, and a loan may be declined on very short leases. The shorter the lease, the more cash you need upfront.
First-timer families can claim up to $50,000 from the CPF Housing Grant (the 5-room or larger bracket that maisonettes fall into) with a $14,000 income ceiling, up to $120,000 from the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant if average income is $9,000 or below and the lease covers the youngest buyer to 95, and $30,000 from the Proximity Housing Grant for living with parents. That stacks to a maximum of about $200,000 for a maisonette; the $230,000 figure sometimes quoted applies only to 4-room or smaller flats with the $80,000 Family Grant. The lease condition often reduces or zeroes the EHG on older maisonettes.
Treat it as a home, not an investment. The space is excellent value and the duplex layout is unmatched by new flats, but lease decay shrinks the future buyer pool and weighs on price growth and liquidity. A maisonette bought with a short lease becomes harder to sell as banks pull back and younger buyers cannot use full CPF. Buy it to live in for the long term, not to flip.
Maisonettes sit in estates built up in the 1980s and early 1990s. The deepest inventory is in Hougang, Tampines, Pasir Ris, Bishan and Choa Chu Kang; central towns like Bukit Timah, Queenstown and Bukit Merah have only a handful. Northern estates such as Woodlands and Yishun are the cheapest, often under $700,000, while comparable units in Bishan or Bukit Timah can run past $1 million. Pasir Ris even has rare blocks built entirely of maisonettes, four to a floor.
Buyer's stamp duty is tiered on the price or valuation, whichever is higher: 1 percent on the first $180,000, 2 percent on the next $180,000, 3 percent on the next $640,000, 4 percent on the next $500,000, then 5 percent above $1.5 million. That comes to $24,600 on a $1,000,000 maisonette and $44,600 on a $1,500,000 one. You pay it in cash and can reimburse yourself from CPF afterwards. A first-timer owner-occupier with just this one HDB flat pays no additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD).
Only if you took a housing subsidy on an earlier flat and your next purchase is also subsidised. A maisonette is an Executive-class flat, so a second-timer buying another subsidised flat owes a fixed resale levy of $50,000 (halved to $25,000 if the first flat used the singles grant). If you buy the maisonette on the open market with no grant and a bank loan, no resale levy applies.
More than a normal flat. Units are 30 to 45 years old, and the second storey, the internal staircase and ageing wiring and plumbing add cost a single-level flat never carries. A light refresh starts in the low five figures, while a full two-storey gut-and-rebuild can run well past $80,000 to $100,000 depending on finishes and structural work. Renovation comes out of cash and CPF, not your housing loan, so budget for it alongside the down payment and stamp duty, and always quote against the actual unit.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.