HDB rental eligibility: Everything you need to know for fuss free rental
Renting out your HDB flat or room can help with creating a constant stream of passive income. This can be used to help pay for daily expenses or even go towards contributing for your monthly mortgage payments. It is little wonder that many Singaporeans are resorting to renting out their HDB flat or room. If you are planning to do so, here is everything you need to know about your HDB rental eligibility.
Yield tables and rent charts are useful reference points, but the units that actually rent well and continue to attract tenants over time aren’t always the ones at the top of a yield table.
The more important question is whether the investment still makes sense once you factor in holding costs, vacancy and your long-term plans. That’s often where buyers find a second opinion most valuable.
Over time, that’s also why we decided to work with agents who shared the same data-driven and advisory-led approach behind our editorial, consultants who could help readers think through decisions more objectively, rather than simply push transactions.
Today, the team has worked with more than 2,000 clients across over $5B in property transactions.
How do I determine my HDB rental eligibility?
For HDB Flat
If you are looking at renting out the whole flat, you will have to fulfil the five-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP). Take note that only Singapore Citizens are able to sublet the entire HDB flat, PRs are not allowed to do so.
Since 16 Jan 2014, you will have to consider the non-citizen (NC) quota when it comes to subletting your HDB flat if one of the subtenants is a non-Malaysian Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) or foreigner. The good news here is Malaysians will not be subject to this ruling. The NC quota is subject to 8% for the neighbourhood and 11% for the block. So once the NC quota has been fulfilled, you will only be allowed to sublet the flat to Singaporean or Malaysian subtenants. If you want to check on the NC quota you can do so here.
HDB rental eligibility for subtenants
You will have to make sure that if your subtenants are foreigners they are holders of Employment Pass, S pass, Work Permits, Student Pass, Dependant Pass or Long-Term Social Visit Pass. Take note of the expiry date as these have to be valid for at least 6 months as at the date of your subletting application. Also, if they are work permit holders from sectors such as construction, manufacturing, marine and process they will have to be Malaysians.
Please remember to also do a check online if the various documents are valid:
NRIC, Student Pass or Long Term Social Visit Pass
S Pass/Employment Pass
Lastly, you will need to keep within the maximum number of tenants allowed to rent your HDB flat. For 1-room and 2-room this is capped at 4, 3-room, 4-room and bigger at 6.
Do note that you will not be able to rent your HDB flat out to tenants or owners of other HDB flats or Executive Condominium units where the 5-year MOP has not been met. There are exceptions however, so only if the potential tenant is divorced or legally separated.
Once you have determined your HDB rental eligibility the last step is to submit the application for approval. This costs $20 and can be done so through here.
HDB Rooms
For HDB rooms you are able to rent out the rooms only if you own a 3-room or larger flat. If it is a 3-room flat, you can only rent out 1 bedroom and for 4-room flats it is a maximum of 2 bedrooms. For 3-room flats the maximum number of occupants is 6 and for 4-room and bigger it is capped at 9. Do note that only bedrooms originally constructed by HDB can be rented out. This means that if you have created your own partitioned rooms, these cannot be used.
HDB rental eligibility for subtenants
Likewise, for HDB room rentals, the subtenants who are foreigners will have to be holders of Employment Pass, S pass, Work Permits, Student Pass, Dependant Pass or Long-Term Social Visit Pass. Please note that tourists are not allowed to rent any HDB rooms.
Unlike HDB flats, for room rentals you do not need HDB approval to sublet out your rooms. However, you will have to register the subletting with HDB within 7 days from its commencement date either though My HDBPage or Mobile@HDB. The good news here is that there is no admin fee!
As always, feel free to leave a comment or you can reach us at stories@stackedhomes.com. If you would like to read more about rental you can do so here!
Yield tables and rent charts are useful reference points, but the units that actually rent well through a cycle, after vacancy, holding costs, and your intended exit, aren’t always the ones at the top of the list.
If you’d like to discuss how this applies to your own circumstances, you can reach out for a one-to-one consultation here.
And if you simply have a question or want to share a thought, feel free to write to us at stories@stackedhomes.com. We read every message.
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