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Housing

Renting out your HDB flat: A homeowner's guide

13 April 2023

Renting out your flat for additional income?

Bottom to top view shot of blue HDB blocks

This guide will help you with the process of renting out your HDB flat in the open market.

Requirements to take note of

Table 1: Homeowner's requirements for renting out whole flat or rooms

To rent out your whole flat:

Citizenship
Flat owners who wish to rent out their whole flat must be a Singapore Citizen (SC). Singapore Permanent Residents are not allowed to rent out their whole flat, regardless of how long they have owned or occupied their flat.

Flat Classification

Only flat owners of Standard flats may rent out their whole flats. Flat owners of Plus and Prime flats are not allowed to rent out their whole flat, regardless of how long they have owned or occupied their flat.

Minimum Occupation Period
Owners of Standard flats and flats under the mature/non-mature estate classification are allowed to rent out their whole flat after fulfilling the minimum occupation period of 5 years (regardless of whether the flat was purchased from HDB or on the resale market).

To rent out bedrooms only:

Only bedrooms from HDB flats that are 3-room or larger can be rented out. All flat owners of 3-room or larger flats are allowed to rent out their bedrooms. This includes Singapore Permanent Residents, or owners of Plus and Prime flats. Owners can rent out their bedrooms before fulfilment of the minimum occupation period.

Flat owners are required to seek HDB’s approval before renting out their bedroom(s). Applications to rent out bedrooms maybe submitted online via HDB’s e-services. The outcome of the application will be made known immediately. An administrative fee is payable with each application, at $10 per bedroom.

Non-Citizen (NC)^ Quota

Renting out of flat to one or more non-Malaysian NCs is subject to the NC Quota. The NC Quota is set at 8% and 11% at the neighbourhood and block level respectively. It will apply to tenants who are Singapore Permanent Residents and foreigners, but will not apply to Malaysians. The NC Rent Out Quota also does not apply to the renting out of bedrooms.

When the NC Rent Out Quota in a neighbourhood and/or block is reached, flat owners there cannot apply to rent out their flat to any non-Malaysian NCs. They can only rent out their flat to Singaporeans and Malaysians.

Flat owners can use the e-Service in the HDB InfoWEB (opens in new tab) to enquire if their flat can be rent out to non-Malaysian NCs.

^ This refers to Singapore Permanent Residents and foreigners (excluding Malaysians for both groups).

Minimum renting out period:

6 months per application. Renting out on a short-term basis is not allowed.

Maximum renting out period:

3 years per application. However, if one or more of the tenants is a non-Malaysian NC, the maximum renting out period is 2 years.

Maximum number of tenants allowed

To prevent overcrowding, the number of tenants you can have in your flat is limited by your flat type. Please note that 1- and 2-room flats can only be rented out whole — individual bedrooms of 1- and 2-room flats cannot be rented out.

Table 2: Type of flats and the maximum number of tenants

Flat type

Total number of occupants*

1-room

4 persons

2-room

4 persons

3-room

6 persons

4-room

8 persons**

5-room

8 persons**

Executive

8 persons**

* For room renting out cases, the total number of occupiers includes the flat owner, authorised occupiers and tenants.

**For 4-room or larger HDB flats, the occupancy cap for rental has been temporarily relaxed to eight unrelated persons from January 22, 2024 to December 31, 2026.

Your responsibilities as landlord

As landlord, you must do the following:

  • Rent your flat only to eligible tenants

  • Ensure that your tenants are staying in Singapore lawfully (while the tenancy contract is in force)

  • Ensure that your tenants do not rent out the flat to other persons

  • Make sure that your tenants comply with all the covenants in the lease and the provisions of the Housing and Development Act. You are responsible for all infringements, if any, by your tenants

  • Inform HDB of any changes in the tenancy

  • If you are only renting out your bedrooms: The owners and all authorized occupiers must continue to live in the flat with the tenants during the period of renting out. In the event that the owners and all authorized occupiers do not live in the flat, the registration for the renting out of bedrooms shall be revoked automatically and the renting out will be deemed as renting out of the whole flat without HDB’s approval and action will be taken against the flat owners under the Housing & Development Act.

  • Ensure that your tenants vacate the premises when:

    • The tenancy contract is terminated

    • You are no longer eligible to rent out your flat

    • Your flat is repossessed by HDB

The property tax will be revised when you rent out your HDB flat. For the applicable property tax rate and the procedure to notify IRAS, please refer to IRAS' website (opens in new tab).

Step 1: Advertise your flat

Advertise your flat on the Internet, newspapers, or through an estate agent.

Step 2: Check Non Citizen Quota

To check if the flat can be rent out to all or only Singaporeans/Malaysians.

Step 3: Check if your tenant is eligible

You may rent your HDB flat to the following types of tenants:

  • Singapore citizens

  • Singapore permanent residents

  • Non-citizens holding the following passes (validity period at least 6 months):

    1. Employment pass

    2. S pass

    3. Work Permit holders from Construction, Marine and Process sectors must be Malaysians. Work Permit holders from the Manufacturing sector must also be Malaysians if renting a whole HDB flat.

    4. Student pass

    5. Dependant pass

    6. Long term social visit pass

If your potential tenant is a foreigner, please verify their immigration status on ICA's website (opens in new tab). You may also check their employment pass or S pass validity on MOM's website (opens in new tab).

You may not rent your HDB flat to parties who own other HDB properties, unless

  • The parties are divorced / legally separated (you may only rent to 1 party of the divorced / legally separated couple).

  • Your tenants rent out their property within 1 month of renting a flat/bedroom from you.

  • If they own an executive condominium unit elsewhere, your tenants must meet their minimum occupation period before they can rent from you.

Step 4: Obtain approval from HDB or notify HDB

Table 3: Approvals and notifications required when renting

Renting whole flat or bedrooms

Required approvals

If renting out your whole flat:

Prior approval from HDB is required. You may apply online (opens in new tab).

Please note that if the flat owner is overseas during the period of renting out, there must be a properly appointed Attorney to act for him/her in the management of the flat.

If renting out your bedrooms only:

Prior approval from HDB is required. You may apply online (opens in new tab).

You must also notify HDB of tenancy terminations, subsequent renewals, and changes to your tenants’ particulars within seven days of these changes.