Mortgage Documents Required: Fast-Track Approval via Homejourney

Documents Required for Mortgage Application: Your Fast-Track Approval Checklist

Applying for a home loan in Singapore requires submitting specific documents to prove your financial stability and eligibility. The exact requirements vary slightly between banks, but most major lenders—including DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Maybank—request a core set of documents that verify your identity, income, employment, and assets. By preparing these documents upfront and using Homejourney's multi-bank application system, you can significantly reduce approval time and compare offers from multiple banks simultaneously.

This guide walks you through every document you'll need, where to obtain them, and how Homejourney simplifies the entire process to get you approved faster.

Essential Identity and Personal Documents

Every mortgage application starts with verifying who you are. Banks require official identification to confirm your legal status and ensure compliance with anti-money laundering regulations.

For Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents:[2][4] You'll need a copy of your NRIC (National Registration Identity Card) showing both front and back. The NRIC must reflect your current address or the address of the property you're purchasing. If your NRIC doesn't show the property address, you may need to provide additional proof of residence.

For Foreign Borrowers:[1][2] A copy of your passport is required, along with your Employment Pass or other visa documentation proving your legal residency in Singapore. You'll also need to provide a utility bill or telephone bill showing the property address as your mailing address.[3] This additional step helps banks verify your residential status and contact information.

Pro Tip: Ensure all identity documents are current and haven't expired. Banks typically won't accept expired passports or visas, which can delay your application by weeks.

Income Verification Documents

Banks assess your ability to repay the loan by examining your income history. This is where most applicants spend the most time gathering documents, so start here first.

Tax Returns and Notice of Assessment (NOA)

Latest Year Notice of Assessment from IRAS:[4][5] This is your most critical income document. The NOA shows your assessed taxable income for the most recent financial year and is issued by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). Banks use this to verify your declared income and cross-reference it against your payslips.

How to obtain: Log in to the IRAS myTax Portal using your SingPass or IRAS PIN. Navigate to "My Documents" and download your latest NOA. This typically takes less than 5 minutes. If you're having trouble accessing it, you can request a copy directly from IRAS, though this takes 3-5 business days.

Payslips

Latest 3 Months' Computerised Payslips:[2][3][4] Banks require recent payslips to verify your current salary and employment status. Payslips must be computerised (not handwritten) and clearly show your employer's name, your salary amount, deductions, and the payment date.

What if you've recently changed jobs?[3] If your employment period at your current position is less than 3 months, you'll need to provide your latest payslip plus an Employment Contract or Letter of Appointment signed by your employer. If you've been employed for less than 1 month, provide the full Employment Contract with your employer's representative signature and designation clearly stated.

Working overseas?[3][6] If your income is earned outside Singapore, provide the latest 3 months of bank statements showing salary deposits via GIRO with transaction reference codes 'SAL' or 'PAY'. The company name and salary amount must match your computerised payslips.

CPF Contribution History

Latest 12 Months' CPF Transaction History:[2][4] For Singapore citizens and permanent residents, banks require your CPF contribution history to verify your savings and employment continuity. This document shows all contributions made by you and your employer over the past year.

How to obtain: Log in to the CPF Board website using your SingPass. Navigate to "Contribution History," select your desired period, and download the statement as a PDF. Keep this document readily available—you'll need it for both your initial application and any refinancing requests.

Employment and Business Documents

Banks verify your employment stability to ensure you can maintain mortgage payments throughout the loan tenure.

Employment Contract or Letter of Appointment:[3] If you've been at your current job for less than 3 months, submit your signed employment contract. This document must include your employer's representative's name, designation, and signature, plus your own signature confirming acceptance of the terms.

For Self-Employed Applicants:[1][7] If you're self-employed or a freelancer, the documentation process is more complex. You'll typically need to provide business registration documents, audited financial statements for the past 2-3 years, business bank statements, and proof of business income. Some banks may also request a business license or partnership agreement if applicable.

Pro Tip: Self-employed applicants should maintain detailed business records and separate business and personal bank accounts. This makes it significantly easier for banks to verify income legitimacy and increases your approval chances.

Property and Financial Documents

Once you've identified the property you want to purchase, you'll need to provide documentation related to that specific property and your existing financial obligations.

Property-Related Documents

Option to Purchase or Sale and Purchase Agreement:[2] For new property purchases, you need the signed Option to Purchase (OTP) or the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA). This document proves you have a legitimate purchase in progress and specifies the property details, purchase price, and completion timeline.

Property Valuation Report:[1] Banks commission their own property valuation to ensure the property value justifies the loan amount. While the bank typically arranges this, you may need to provide preliminary property documentation or allow the bank's valuer to inspect the property.

HDB Flat Information (if applicable):[4] If you own an HDB flat or are purchasing one, you need to provide HDB Flat Information and HDB Financial Information. Log in to MyHDBPage using your SingPass, navigate to "Property," and download both documents. If you don't own any HDB flat, take a screenshot of the message stating "You do not own any HDB flat" and submit that instead.

Existing Debt and Credit Information

Bank Statements for Existing Loans:[2] If you have other secured or unsecured credit facilities with other banks, provide statements for the past 3-6 months. This includes credit card statements, personal loan statements, car loan statements, and any other outstanding debt.

Credit Card Statements:[5] Submit statements for all credit cards you hold, showing your current balance, credit limit, and payment history. Banks use this to calculate your Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) and assess your creditworthiness.

Existing Loan Statements:[5] If you have student loans, car loans, or other personal loans, provide the most recent statement showing the outstanding balance, monthly repayment amount, and remaining tenure. Banks factor all existing debt into your borrowing capacity calculation.

How Homejourney Streamlines Your Document Submission

Gathering and submitting documents to individual banks is time-consuming and repetitive. Homejourney's multi-bank application system eliminates this hassle by allowing you to submit one application that reaches DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Maybank, CIMB, and other major lenders simultaneously.

Singpass Integration: Auto-Fill Your Application

One of Homejourney's most powerful features is Singpass integration. When you apply via Homejourney's bank rates page, you can authenticate using your SingPass, and your application auto-fills with data from government databases in seconds. Your income information, CPF contribution history, and employment details populate automatically, eliminating manual data entry errors and significantly speeding up the process.

This integration means you don't need to manually type in your salary, CPF balance, or tax information—the system pulls verified data directly from official sources, making your application more trustworthy and faster to process.

Document Upload and Verification

After Singpass auto-fills your basic information, Homejourney's secure platform allows you to upload remaining documents—payslips, bank statements, property agreements, and any other required paperwork—in one centralized location. All documents are encrypted and transmitted securely to participating banks, protecting your personal financial information.

Homejourney's platform verifies document completeness before submission, alerting you immediately if any required documents are missing. This prevents rejections due to incomplete applications and ensures your submission meets all bank requirements on the first attempt.

Real-Time Application Tracking

After submitting through Homejourney, you can track your application status in real-time through the platform dashboard. See which banks have received your application, which are currently processing it, and when you can expect to hear back. This transparency eliminates the uncertainty of traditional bank applications where you're left wondering about your status for weeks.

Compare Offers Side-by-Side

As banks respond with loan offers, Homejourney displays all offers in a side-by-side comparison table. You can immediately see which bank is offering the best interest rate, lowest fees, most flexible terms, and fastest approval timeline. This empowers you to make an informed decision based on your specific financial situation rather than accepting the first offer that arrives.

Document Preparation Timeline and Pro Tips

Start gathering documents at least 2-3 weeks before you plan to apply for a mortgage. This buffer time allows you to request any missing documents from employers or government agencies without rushing.

Week 1 Actions: Download your IRAS Notice of Assessment and CPF contribution history using SingPass. Request the latest 3 months of payslips from your employer's HR department. Gather all credit card and loan statements showing your existing debt obligations.

Week 2 Actions: Collect your NRIC or passport copies. If you're a foreigner, gather your Employment Pass and utility bills. If purchasing an HDB flat, download HDB Flat Information from MyHDBPage. Request your Employment Contract or Letter of Appointment if you've been at your current job for less than 3 months.

Week 3 Actions: Organize all documents in a folder on your computer or phone. Scan physical documents if needed. Review the complete checklist one final time. Create a Homejourney account and begin your application via the bank rates page.

Pro Tip: Before applying, use Homejourney's mortgage eligibility calculator to determine how much you can borrow based on your income and existing debt. This helps you understand your realistic borrowing capacity and prevents wasting time applying for loans you won't qualify for.

Common Document Mistakes to Avoid

Submitting Expired Documents: Always verify that your NRIC, passport, and Employment Pass haven't expired. Banks will reject expired identity documents immediately, delaying your application by weeks while you obtain replacements.

Inconsistent Information Across Documents: Ensure your name, address, and employment information match exactly across all documents. Even minor discrepancies (like "Ahmad" vs "Ahm") can trigger verification delays. Review all documents carefully before submission.

Missing Recent Bank Statements: Banks typically require the most recent 3-6 months of statements for all accounts. Submitting older statements or incomplete records raises red flags about your financial stability.

Handwritten Payslips: Banks require computerised payslips only. Handwritten or informal payslips won't be accepted. If your employer doesn't provide computerised payslips, request them from HR in writing.

Not Disclosing All Debt: Failing to mention existing loans or credit card debt is a serious mistake that can result in application rejection or loan default if discovered later. Always disclose all financial obligations transparently.

Why Homejourney Makes Mortgage Applications Safer and Faster

Homejourney prioritizes your safety and trust throughout the mortgage application process. The platform verifies all submitted documents, encrypts sensitive financial information, and ensures your data is only shared with legitimate, regulated banks. You maintain complete control over your information and can see exactly which banks have accessed your application.

By consolidating multiple bank applications into one simple submission, Homejourney eliminates the confusion and risk of applying to banks individually. You're less likely to make mistakes, less likely to submit incomplete applications, and more likely to receive fair offers from multiple lenders who can compete for your business.

The platform's transparency features—real-time application tracking, side-by-side offer comparisons, and clear fee breakdowns—ensure you understand exactly what you're getting into before accepting any loan offer. This commitment to user safety and informed decision-making is what sets Homejourney apart as a trusted partner in your home buying journey.