HDB Loan Application: What Documents Do You Need?

So, what documents are needed for your HLE letter application?

It’s vitally important to ensure that you submit all the required documents when you make your application for your HLE letter, as even a single missing document can lead to a rejection, which would then force you to go through the entire application process again, thus wasting time and delaying the whole home-buying process for you.

Depending on your employment status, the documents required from you will differ. We’ll start first with full-time employed individuals, then cover self-employed individuals, before moving to commission-based and part-time workers, freelancers and odd job workers, and ending with unemployed individuals.

Important info

The HDB considers both applicants and occupiers to be co-payers of the flat that they’re about to purchase. Therefore, even if you are not a direct applicant and intend to just be an occupier, you should also consider the following section and include the appropriate documents in the application.

Full-time employed individuals

If you currently have full-time employment, then congratulations, you have what is probably the most straightforward route to securing a HLE letter. These are the documents that you will need to provide in your application:

• Your SingPass
• Three months of your most recent payslips
• A recent employer’s letter certifying your job position, commencement date, and salary
• Past CPF contributions for the past 15 months

These are the essential requirements for both applicants and occupiers of a HDB flat. Any occupier relying on a full-time employed individual’s HLE status is ineligible for any further applications until after they’ve sold off the property for 30 months.

Self-employed individuals

Self-employed individuals have to primarily prove that they operate a company that is approved and registered in Singapore, and that they have enough income to pay both the full principal amount and subsequent interest fees associated with an HDB concessionary loan. Like a full-time employed individual, your HLE letter application process should be relatively straightforward if you can provide the following documents:

• ACRA business profile
• Valid license of business/trade
• Latest IRAS Notice of Assessment
• Certified annual statement of accounts from a valid audit firm
• 12 months’ of bank statements from the applicant
• Recent Credit Bureau Singapore report

Non-applicant occupiers need only submit their details without bank statements or credit report, though the HDB assumes that occupiers will have the means to contribute as co-owners and payers of the HDB flat.

Commission-based and part-time workers

Bear in mind that the HDB is likely to consider part-time workers who work multiple part-time jobs as part timers, as opposed to freelancers. If you fall under this category, these are the documents you’ll need to provide:

• 12 months’ payslips or commission statements, from both applicants and occupiers
• Alternatively, a recent letter of offer from an employer certifying job position and salary

Applicants also need to provide the following:

• Past 15 months’ CPF contribution
• Past 12 months’ bank statements
• Recent Credit Bureau Singapore report

Odd job and freelance workers

The primary distinction between this and the previous category is in the regularity of payment, with the commission-based and part-time workers group needing to provide proof of salary or commission earnings. For odd job and freelance workers, the HDB’s approach is similar in nature to that of self-employed individuals with businesses instead, albeit with differences. The required documents for applicants and occupiers under this category include:

• Latest IRAS Notice of Assessment
• Recent letter from employer certifying job position and salary (for odd job workers)

Applicants also need to provide the following:

• Previous 15 months’ CPF contribution
• Previous 12 months’ bank statement
• Recent Credit Bureau Singapore report

Unemployed individuals

Applicants and occupiers who are not employed at the time of their application still have an opportunity to obtain an HLE letter, especially if they have only recently become unemployed. Both applicants and occupiers should submit the following documents:

• Statutory declaration certifying proof of unemployment
• Valid Student’s Pass (for student occupiers only)

For those of applicants and occupiers who have only recently become unemployed within the last three months, providing the following documents can increase the chance of approval:

• Past 3 months’ payslips
• Proof from previous employer certifying past salary and last day of service
• Previous 15 months’ CPF contribution

Ready with all your documents? What’s next?

Once you’ve got all your documents sorted out, the only thing left is the application itself. Start things off by going to the HDB’s HLE letter application page. Your application letter requires only a brief statement and an electronic signature. You will need to scan all the required documents and provide them in either JPEG or PDF.

Important info

The HDB application portal only accepts files up to 5 MB in size.