An is built and sold by a private developer, but the first sale comes with public-housing eligibility rules and a government grant for some buyers. Over ten years it becomes an ordinary private condominium.
Buying new from the developer
- At least one buyer must be a Singapore citizen, and the others citizens or permanent residents.
- You must apply under an eligible household scheme — most commonly as a couple, or with family. Singles cannot buy a new EC on their own.
- A monthly household income ceiling applies. Check the current figure with HDB before you plan around it.
- You must not have disposed of another property within the last 30 months, and there are limits on owning other property.
- Financing comes from a bank, not an HDB loan, and the applies on top of : repayments capped at 30% of income.
The two milestones
Year five: the Minimum Occupation Period ends
You must live in it for five years from . After that you may sell — but only to Singapore citizens and permanent residents.
Year ten: it goes fully private
The EC is privatised. It can now be sold to foreigners and to companies, and it behaves like any other condominium. Prices often step up around this point as the buyer pool widens.
Buying an EC on the resale market
Between years five and ten, the income ceiling and household schemes no longer apply to you as a buyer — but the citizenship restriction does. After year ten, nothing special applies at all.
On this site, ECs are filtered separately from condominiums throughout, because their price history reflects these rules. Filter for them on Buy.
The income ceiling, grant amounts and eligibility schemes are set by HDB and change from time to time. Confirm the current rules with HDB before making plans — this page describes how the scheme works, not this month's figures.