Joint Home Loan Approval: Boost Your Chances with Homejourney

When your joint home loan application is complete, your approval chances in Singapore depend on how strong your combined income, credit profile, and documentation are, and how well you match each bank’s criteria under MAS rules like TDSR and LTV.[6] To improve approval odds, couples and co-borrowers should optimise their debt profile, tidy their CPF and income records, choose the right loan structure, and submit a clean, fully verified application through a platform like Homejourney that streamlines multi-bank submissions safely.

This article is a focused extension of Homejourney’s main joint mortgage and home loan pillar guide, and zooms in specifically on: “Joint Home Loan Application Complete: How to Improve Approval Chances”. For a step-by-step overview of joint loan types, ownership structures, and regulatory rules, you can refer to the main pillar piece via Joint Home Loan in Singapore: Application Guide with Homejourney and our FAQ companion article Joint Home Loan FAQs in Singapore: Homejourney Expert Guide .

What Happens After a Joint Home Loan Application Is Complete?

Once your joint application is submitted (whether for an HDB, resale flat near Jurong East MRT, or a condo in Tampines), banks follow a fairly standard internal process:

Step 1 – Basic checks: Identity, citizenship/PR status, and property details are verified against your Option to Purchase (OTP) and government databases where applicable.[6]
Step 2 – Credit bureau pull: Both co-borrowers’ credit reports are checked for late payments, defaults, or many short-term loans.
Step 3 – Income and TDSR: Banks compute your Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) using MAS requirements, currently capping total debt repayments at a set percentage of gross monthly income.[6]
Step 4 – LTV & age: Loan-to-Value (LTV) and tenure are determined based on property type, number of existing housing loans, and the income-weighted average age of both borrowers.[1][6]
Step 5 – Valuation & Letter of Offer: Bank orders valuation; if satisfactory, a Letter of Offer is issued, usually within a few working days after all documents are in.[2][3]

In practice, for straightforward salaried couples buying a BTO in Tengah or an OCR condo, a clean joint home loan can be reviewed in as little as 3–5 working days once all documents are complete.[3] Self-employed borrowers, multiple properties, or complex bonus/commission structures can stretch this easily to 1–2 weeks.

Key Factors Banks Use to Assess Joint Home Loans

Understanding how banks think is the fastest way to improve your approval chances. Across DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Maybank, CIMB, RHB and others, the key assessment pillars are very similar because they follow MAS guidelines.[6]

1. Combined income and income stability
For a couples home loan, banks look at both borrowers’ fixed income, variable income, and how long you’ve been in your roles. Stable CPF contributions over 12 months and consistent payslips are viewed more favourably than recent job hops.
2. Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) and MSR
Banks must ensure your total monthly debt obligations (including this mortgage) do not exceed the TDSR cap.[6] For HDB and ECs, they also consider the Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR), which caps mortgage payments as a share of income.
3. Credit history of both co-borrowers
One weak credit profile can drag down the entire joint mortgage application, even if the other borrower has a strong record.
4. Property profile and valuation
Freehold vs 99-year lease, remaining lease (especially for older HDBs in estates like Toa Payoh or Queenstown), and recent transaction prices affect valuation and LTV.
5. Age and tenure via Income-Weighted Average Age (IWAA)
If one borrower is significantly older (e.g., 50) and the other is 30, banks calculate an income-weighted average age to determine maximum tenure and LTV.[1]

Because these rules are detailed and frequently updated, Homejourney always recommends checking the latest MAS guidelines and specific bank criteria via Bank Rates before committing.

Step-by-Step: How to Strengthen a Joint Home Loan Application

Use this practical, Singapore-specific framework if your joint home loan application is complete but you want to maximise approval odds — especially if you’re buying near key hubs like Paya Lebar Quarter, Jurong Gateway, or Woodlands Regional Centre.

1. Clean Up Both Borrowers’ Debt Profiles

Before or immediately after submitting your joint mortgage, work through these actions:

Pay down high-interest debt
Clear or reduce credit card balances, personal loans, BNPL instalments, and education loans where possible. This directly lowers your TDSR and shows stronger repayment behaviour.
Avoid taking new loans during assessment
Don’t take on car loans or big-ticket instalments between submitting your home loan and getting your Letter of Offer. Banks can re-check your credit before disbursement.
Standardise repayment dates
If you often pay just before the due date, set GIRO and aim to have a 6–12 month track record of on-time repayments before applying; late payments can hurt a marginal case.

Insider tip: In heartland branches (e.g., Bedok, Yishun, Hougang), relationship managers often see cases where one borrower’s $300–$500 monthly car loan causes the couple to fail TDSR by a small margin. Clearing or restructuring such loans before (or, in some cases, during) assessment can make the difference between approval and rejection.

2. Present Strong, Verified Income Evidence

Banks like DBS and OCBC typically ask for similar documents for joint home loans:[2][5]

Latest 3 months’ computerised payslips for each borrower.[2]
Latest 12 months’ CPF contribution history (download via Singpass).[5]
Latest 1–2 years’ IRAS Notice of Assessment (NOA).[5]
For self-employed / commission-based: at least 2 years’ income tax assessments, and sometimes 6–12 months’ bank statements.[2][3]
Copy of NRIC/Passport; Option to Purchase; existing property loan statements if refinancing.[2]

How Homejourney helps: When you apply via Singpass/MyInfo on Bank Rates , income, CPF, and tax data are auto-pulled securely. This reduces manual errors (like missing pages of NOA) that commonly delay or weaken applications.

3. Optimise Who Should Be Co-Borrower vs Owner

For joint mortgages in Singapore, there are three key roles to think about: borrower, mortgagor (owner), and sometimes guarantor.[6] In many cases, all owners are also borrowers, especially for HDB and owner-occupied condos. But strategic structuring can help if one party has weaker income or credit.

Higher income, clean credit as main borrower
Where possible, list the stronger income earner with better credit as the primary borrower; some banks give slightly more flexibility in marginal cases if the main borrower is robust.
Use younger borrower to extend tenure
A younger co-borrower with stable income can lower the income-weighted average age, allowing a longer loan tenure and smaller monthly instalment.[1]
Watch existing property ownership
Extra properties can lower LTV and trigger ABSD. For HDB owners upgrading to a condo in areas like Sengkang or Bukit Panjang, consider timelines for selling the current flat to restore higher LTV and better approval odds.[4]

Important: Structuring ownership has tax and legal implications, especially if you later consider decoupling. Review our decoupling series for more scenarios: Decoupling Property Mortgage Implications: Homejourney Guide and Decoupling Property Mortgage Implications: Boost Approval Odds | Homejourney . Always consult a conveyancing lawyer for case-specific advice.

4. Choose the Right Loan Type to Pass Stress Tests

Even after your joint application is complete, you can still adjust loan structure before signing the Letter of Offer. This can materially improve approval chances.