HOW SINGAPORE PERMANENT RESIDENTS CAN 

BUY A HDB FLAT?

THE BURNING QUESTION

Can Singapore Permanent Residents (PRs) buy an HDB flat? The short answer is, PRs are only allowed to buy resale HDB flats, and not 'new' subsidised HDB flats sold by the government such as Build-to-Order (BTO) Flats and Sale of Balance Flats (SBF).

But even so, you're only allowed to buy a resale HDB flat by fulfilling the eligibility conditions specified by HDB. 

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PR TO PURCHASE A HDB FLAT

Generally, PRs can only buy resale HDB flats with another Singaporean or Singapore Permanent Resident under two schemes: the Public Scheme, which is buying with family (i.e: spouse, children, siblings, parents), or the Fiance/Fiancee Scheme, which is well, your fiance or fiancee. In other words, you can't buy an HDB resale flat alone.

Apart from that, you must also fulfil these other conditions: 

Conditions under the Public Scheme and Fiance/Fiancee Scheme

Public Scheme

Under the Public Scheme, a PR must form a family nucleus with spouse and children (if any) or with his parents. If widowed or divorced, there must be at least one child under his legal custody.

For divorcees, if the child is below 21 and the former partner shares in the responsibility of taking care of the child, you need her written permission before you are allowed to list that child as an occupant when applying for an HDB resale flat. For more details, please see the table below.
Criteria Details
Citizenship Buyer must be a Singapore Citizen (SC) or PR
There is at least one listed occupant, who is either an SC or PR
If there is no SC in the family, all owners and essential occupiers must all be PRs for at least three years.
Family Nucleus Buyer needs to form a family nucleus with one of the following groups:
Spouse and children
Parents (If you are a single PR purchasing with parents, at least one of them must be a SC or PR.)
Children under your legal custody, care and control (for widowed/ divorced persons)
Fiancé/Fiancée Scheme

Under this scheme, you are set to create a family nucleus with your soon-to-be spouse, and it is expected that both of you will be tying the knot. Hence, you need to officially get married in Singapore within three months of completing the purchase of an HDB resale flat.

If the marriage is done overseas, submit a copy of the marriage certificate to the Housing Board. There are also other special conditions. For particulars, please see table below:
Criteria Details
Citizenship You and your soon-to-be spouse must either be: - PR or SC - If there is no SC in the family, all owners and essential occupiers must all be PRs for at least three years.
Family Nucleus Your fiancé or fiancée must be listed in the application as either: - A co-applicant if 21 years old or above - An occupant
Special Conditions You and your spouse must solemnise your marriage with the Registry of Civil Marriages / Registry of Muslim Marriages within three months from the resale completion date
If the marriage is officially done in another country, submit a photocopy of the marriage certificate to HDB within three months from the resale completion date
If your fiancé or fiancée is 18 to 21 years old, his or her parents must approve the purchase of resale HDB flat. If your soon-to-be spouse is under 18 years old, you need to get a Special Marriage Licence from Ministry of Social and Family Development and show this to HDB
Divorcees need to show interim judgment (Decree Nisi), court order, and final judgment (Decree Nisi Absolute).
Both the above tables show that a single PR is not allowed to purchase a resale HDB flat alone, but is allowed to do so with his or her parents. A divorced PR with children can also purchase an HDB resale flat, likewise for soon-to-be married couples consisting of a PR and SC, or two permanent residents.

How do the EIP and SPR quota work?

If you pass the general requirements and you are eligible for either the Public Scheme or Fiancé/Fiancée Scheme, there are still two hurdles to overcome before you can purchase an HDB resale flat – namely the quota under the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) and the Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) Quota.

If there is at least one Singapore citizen or one Malaysian PR in the city-state among the buyers of an HDB resale flat, you only need to qualify for the EIP. But if all buyers are non-Malaysian permanent residents in Singapore, you must pass the EIP and SPR quota.
Important: To comply with the EIP quota, you must belong to the same race or ethnic group as the seller of the HDB resale flat, and there must still be space for your ethnic group in the HDB block or neighbourhood where you intend to buy. The quotas are updated every first day of the month. To check the EIP quota of the place where you’re buying an HDB resale flat, please visit HDB’s e-Service.
The aim of EIP which applies to all HDB flats, is to help maintain a good racial mix in HDB communities to promote racial integration and harmony.

Meanwhile, the purpose of the Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) Quota is to facilitate the integration of PRs into the city-state’s local communities. Malaysians are excluded from this quota thanks to their close cultural and historical similarities with Singaporeans.

Important: Under this quota, non-Malaysians PRs in the city-state should not account for more than 5% of households within an HDB neighbourhood or 8% within an HDB block.

Can PRs Get Housing Grants to Buy an HDB Resale Flat?

PR households without any SCs are not eligible for grants. To be eligible for grants, your household will need to be comprised of at least one Singapore Citizen. If that's the case, then you can receive a grant amount of up to $160,000 if you're both first-time applicants. These are:

YES! I AM A PR AND I WANT TO BUY A HDB FLAT. PLEASE SHOW ME HOW! FIND YOUR DREAM HOME NOW!
article source from: https://www.propertyguru.com.sg/property-guides/how-do-singapore-permanent-residents-buy-a-hdb-flat-9914
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