What is a HFE Letter?

The HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter is meant to provide a more holistic assessment of the eligibility of HDB Buyers for housing grants and HDB/Bank Loans. Do note that buyers must have a valid HFE Letter in order to purchase a New HDB Flat or a Resale HDB Flat.

HDB will issue the approved HFE letter within 21 working days and it is valid for 9 months from the date of issue.

Step By Step Guide

I) The Preliminary HFE Check

The HFE Check is the first step in the assessment process and is meant to give the buyer a quick snapshot on their eligibility for grants and whether they can apply for an HDB Loan. After this step, the Buyers are required to proceed to apply for an HFE Letter.

Step 1 - Access https://homes.hdb.gov.sg/home/landing

Select "HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) Letter" and login with your Singpass information

Step 2 - You can choose to allow MyInfo to retrieve your personal information directly

Step 3 - Key in your employment details and income information. The income information required would be for a 12-month period, 2 months preceding the month of application

In the above screenshot, the application was done in the month of June 2023, hence the income information needed was for May 2022, ending Apr 2023 (2 months prior to the month of application).

Step 4 - Submit your declarations

Step 5 - Indicate if you will be taking up a housing loan, and key in your current monthly loan commitments.

Step 6 View a summary of the information you have submitted and check to ensure all fields are correct before proceeding.

Step 7 Review the Preliminary Results of your HFE Assessment.

Step 8 - Scroll down the page and under the "Next Steps" section, click on the Apply button.

II) The HFE Letter

Buyers must have a valid HFE Letter in order to purchase a New Flat or a Resale Flat It provides a more formal assessment and confirmation of eligibility for grants and loans During the process, buyers are provided with the options to also receive an IPA (In-Principle Assessment) from 6 banks on their bank loan eligibility and amount Buyers can expect to receive the HFE Letter within 21 working days, and it is valid for 9 months from the date of issue. Buyers should apply for an HFE Letter within 30 calendar days of starting Step 1. If your HFE Letter is about to expire, you will receive an SMS notification to remind you to re-apply for the HFE.

Step 9 - Applying for the HFE Letter

Do ensure that you have completed Section 1 above before proceeding to this section. If you had clicked on the "Apply" button in Step 8 of the previous section, you will be greeted with the following screen.

Alternatively, if you are completing the HFE Letter application in another login session, begin by accessing the page https://homes.hdb.gov.sg/home/landing and click on the Login button at the top right hand corner.

Step 10 - Ensure that the correct Loan Option is selected, based on your needs

Step 11 - Review the loan guidelines and select a loan provider. You can opt to apply for an IPA directly from the banks or mortgage advisor; it is not compulsory to go through the HFE Portal for an IPA.

Check the above checkbox if you do not wish to apply for IPA using the HFE portal.

Step 12 - At the next screen, you can choose to use your SingPass login to populate your details directly into the fields.

Step 13 - Submit the HFE Application

All intended applicants and occupiers need to log in to the HDB Flat Portal to complete the Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter application.

At the next Acknowledge screen, take note of the Reference Number.

If you have completed all the above steps, you will see that the Application Stage will be updated as Completed:

III) Obtaining the HFE Letter

According to official guidelines, HDB will take up to 21 working days to process the HFE letter application.

Step 14 - Check back in on the HFE letter progress by accessing the page https://homes.hdb.gov.sg/home/landing and click on the Login button at the top right hand corner, or the Proceed button.

Step 15 - If your application has been successful, you will see the final stage marked as "Approved".

Do take note of the following :

The HFE letter is valid for 9 months

Take note of the HFE reference number - you will need this when submitting your resale flat application

Congratulations! You can now start to make a purchase of a HDB Flat!

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