Understanding the income requirements for home loans in Singapore is one of the biggest hurdles for first-time buyers, upgraders, and investors alike.
This FAQ-style guide explains how banks and HDB assess your income, the minimum salary for a mortgage, how self-employed and variable income borrowers are treated, and what you can do if you currently fall short of income eligibility. Throughout, we’ll show how Homejourney helps you check your numbers safely, compare bank offers, and apply with confidence.
How do banks in Singapore assess income for home loans?
In Singapore, banks assess your income using Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) rules such as the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR), which caps your total monthly debt repayments at 55% of your gross monthly income.[5]
For HDB flats and Executive Condominiums (ECs), the Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR) also applies, capping your mortgage instalments at 30% of your gross monthly income.[5][6]
In practice, this means banks look at:
- Gross fixed income – your basic monthly salary before CPF and tax.
- Variable income – commissions, bonuses, allowances (usually given a haircut of around 30%–70%, depending on stability; each bank differs).
- Existing debts – car loans, study loans, personal loans, and credit card instalments, which all count towards TDSR.[5]
- Loan tenure and interest rate stress test – banks must assess your ability to repay using a buffer interest rate set by MAS, not just the headline rate.[5]
Homejourney’s mortgage eligibility calculator on the bank rates page Bank Rates applies these rules for you automatically, so you can see your estimated borrowing power in minutes without guesswork.
Is there a fixed minimum salary for a mortgage in Singapore?
There is no single nationwide “minimum salary” for home loans, but there are several income-related rules you must clear:
- TDSR 55% limit: Your total monthly debt obligations, including the new home loan, cannot exceed 55% of your gross monthly income.[5]
- MSR 30% limit: For HDB flats and ECs, your monthly mortgage repayment cannot exceed 30% of your gross monthly income.[5][6]
- HDB income ceilings if you’re buying a subsidised flat or EC (e.g. $14,000 income ceiling for most new HDB flats and $16,000 for ECs).[2]
- Bank-specific loan minimums, such as minimum loan quantum (e.g. some banks require at least S$200,000 loan amount for HDB flats).[7]
For example, a couple with a combined gross income of S$8,000 and no other debt could, under TDSR, allocate up to S$4,400/month to total debt servicing (55% of S$8,000).[5] Under MSR for an HDB flat, they would be limited to S$2,400/month in mortgage instalments (30% of S$8,000).[6]
Local borrowers often discover that the MSR, not the TDSR, is the tighter constraint when buying a BTO in estates like Punggol or Tengah. In practice, many clients I’ve worked with in the north-east – for instance, couples earning a combined S$7,000 looking at a 4-room resale in Sengkang – find their budget capped by MSR rather than the bank’s marketing headline of “up to 75% LTV”.
To avoid rough estimation mistakes, run your numbers with Homejourney’s affordability tools on the bank rates page before committing to any Option to Purchase.
What documents prove my income for a home loan?
For salaried employees, most major banks like DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Maybank typically request:
- Latest 3 months’ computerised payslips.
- Latest 12 months’ CPF contribution history.
- Latest Income Tax Notice of Assessment (usually last 1–2 years).
- Employment letter or contract for newly joined staff, if applicable.
UOB, for example, lists “latest computerised payslip / IR8A” as required income documents for home loan applications, and two years’ tax returns for self-employed borrowers.[3]
Through Homejourney’s Singpass/MyInfo integration on the bank rates page Bank Rates , your CPF, IRAS income data and NRIC details can be securely retrieved and verified instantly, reducing the risk of missing documents and speeding up bank approval.
How is income eligibility calculated for self-employed or commission-based borrowers?
For self-employed or variable income borrowers (e.g. property agents, insurance agents, grab drivers, business owners), banks usually take a more conservative approach.
They will typically look at:
- 2–3 years of income history via Notices of Assessment and/or business financial statements.[3]
- Average income over this period, often with a haircut (for example, using 70% of the average as qualifying income; exact percentages differ across banks and change over time).
- CPF contributions if any, although many self-employed rely primarily on IRAS data.
For commission-earners, banks often:
- Take an average of the past 12–24 months’ commissions.
- Apply a haircut to reflect variability and seasonality.
From experience, insurance advisers in the CBD or sales professionals working around Raffles Place often underestimate how much this haircut affects their “income requirement home loan” calculation. For example, if your average commission over the past two years is S$10,000 a month, but the bank only recognises 70% of that (S$7,000), your borrowing power will be based on S$7,000 – not the full S$10,000.
Homejourney’s mortgage eligibility calculator lets you input both fixed and variable components so you can simulate your approval odds even before speaking to a banker.
How do TDSR and MSR affect my income requirement for a home loan?
The Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) and Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR) are MAS rules that directly determine your income requirement for a given loan size.[5][6]
In simplified terms:
- TDSR: \(\text{Total Monthly Debt} \leq 0.55 \times \text{Gross Monthly Income}\)[5]
- MSR: \(\text{Monthly Mortgage} \leq 0.30 \times \text{Gross Monthly Income}\) for HDB and ECs.[6]
Suppose you want to buy a S$700,000 4-room resale flat in Woodlands with a 25-year loan tenure. If the bank estimates your monthly instalment at S$3,000 after applying the MAS stress-test rate, your required income just for MSR would be:
\(\text{Required Income} = \text{Monthly Mortgage} / 0.30 = 3{,}000 / 0.30 = S$10{,}000\)
So your household needs a combined gross income of roughly S$10,000, assuming no other debts, to pass MSR. If you already have a car loan of S$800/month, TDSR might also become the limiting factor.
For a deeper dive into TDSR mechanics and strategies to improve your eligibility, refer to Homejourney’s dedicated guides: TDSR Explained: Mortgage Eligibility & Homejourney Benefits and TDSR Singapore Explained: Mortgage Eligibility Guide | Homejourney .
What about HDB income ceilings and housing grants?
If you are buying a new subsidised HDB flat or an Executive Condominium (EC), you must also meet HDB’s income ceilings, separate from bank loan rules.
As of current guidelines:
- Monthly household income ceiling for most new subsidised HDB flats: S$14,000.[2]
- Monthly household income ceiling for buying an EC: S$16,000.[2]
- Enhanced CPF Housing Grant offers higher grant amounts for lower-income households, up to S$120,000 for eligible families with income of S$9,000 or less.[2]
These ceilings are about maximum
