How To Pay Your Housing Loan In Singapore

Housing loans can be a lifesaver when it comes to buying a home. But paying back your housing loan can be a difficult task, especially if you are not prepared for it.

This guide will show you how to pay housing loan in Singapore so that you can keep your home and finances in order.

What Is A HDB Loan?

A HDB loan is a government-backed housing loan that enables Singaporeans to buy HDB flats. It is a long-term loan that is typically repaid over a period of 25 years.

A HDB loan offers a number of benefits such as low interest rates, flexible repayment terms, and the option to use your CPF Ordinary Account (OA) to pay for your housing loan.

How To Use Your CPF OA To Pay For Your Housing Loan

As a Singaporean, you can tap into your CPF OA to pay for your housing loan and for various other purposes.

CPF stands for Central Provident Fund, a savings scheme that Singaporeans contribute to every month for their retirement.

To find out how to pay housing loan, here are a few ways that your CPF OA funds can be used:

• To buy a new HDB property
• Premiums for home purchase schemes
• Repayment of installments for housing loans

Depending on the date of the property purchase, lease information, and more, you will be able to check how much of your OA funds can be used for a housing loan.

How To Pay For Your Housing Loan Installments

There are various methods through which you can pay for your housing loan. You can use either one or more of the below payment modes to pay your HDB loan installments.

• Online banking
• CPF
• GIRO
• eNETS Debit
• Cash payments

Payment Modes

Online Banking

Many banks such as DBS Bank/POSB Bank, United Overseas Bank, and OCBC Bank offer internet banking services that make it easier for customers to pay their bills and housing loan installments.

All you need is your internet banking ID and password to log in and make the payment.

CPF

If you are the owner of the property, then you have the advantage of using your CPF OA savings to fund your HDB loan repayment.

In order to use your CPF to pay a housing loan, here are a few things you must do:

• Have insurance under the Home Protection Scheme (HPS) by the CPF Board. This can be done by submitting an application form to CPF.
• Complete and submit the CPF withdrawal application form either through the HDB website or in person at any HDB branch after getting a proper appointment. This is needed in order to authorise the monthly HDB loan payment costs to be deducted from your CPF OA.
• In case of any inadequate amounts in the monthly deductions, you may need to make additional payments through its website.

GIRO

GIRO is a payment system in which the bank will deduct the HDB loan installments from your salary or savings account and pay them directly to HDB. This can be done with the banks that are participating in the GIRO system.

In order to set up GIRO, you need to fill out the Interbank GIRO (IBG) application and submit it to HDB. This acts as a standing instruction for the bank to allow HDB’s automatic monetary deductions.

For flat owners, HDB eases the process by providing a pre-filled IBS form.

You can use GIRO to pay for:

• Monthly rent for HDB
• Installments for housing loans
• Upgrading cost installments

eNETS Debit

This is a fast and convenient way to pay for your housing loan installments. All you need to do is log in to your bank account, select eNETS as your payment option, and enter the necessary payment details.

This payment method allows for real-time processing and immediate confirmation of your transaction. It ensures that your housing loan payments are processed quickly and efficiently.

You can use eNETS Debit if you have an account in participating banks such as Citibank, DBS Bank/POSB Bank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and United Overseas Bank.

PayNow Via SGQR

SGQR is Singapore’s Quick Response (QR) code that consolidates all your payments in one place. You can use this to pay for your housing loan installments by scanning the code with the banking app in your phone.

This is a new payment method that was introduced in 2018. It is available for use with participating banks, including Bank of China, Citibank, DBS Bank/POSB Bank, HSBC, and a few more.

Cash Payments

There are 25 HDB branches islandwide that have cash payment kiosks where you can pay your housing loan installments. HDB provides a list of cash payment kiosks where you can make HDB loan repayments.

Partial Capital Repayment

Partial capital repayment is when you make an additional lump sum payment on top of your monthly installments to pay off a portion of the principal amount of your housing loan.

Without any lock-in period and administrative fees, partial capital repayment will help to shorten the overall loan tenure and save you interest costs in the long run.

You can take up one of the two options to make partial capital repayments:

• After making a partial capital repayment, you can update or change your monthly installment. For this option, you need to book an appointment and visit the HDB branch to request this change.
• After the partial capital repayment, you can reduce the repayment period and pay the regular monthly installment for this shortened period. You can do this online by visiting the HDB website and finding the option under other related services.

Upon request, the proposed date for you to make the partial repayment will be scheduled one month later.

Also, there is a minimum partial capital repayment amount of $500 for loans started before 1 Apr 2012 and $5,000 for loans started after 1 Apr 2012.

Paying Off Your HDB Loan Early

If you have spare cash, you may want to consider using paying off your housing loan early to save on interest costs in the long run.

You can make an early full payment online by visiting HDB’s website and submitting a request on the “Redemption of housing loan” page under “Other related services”.

The redemption amount will be calculated by adding the outstanding housing loan as of the submission month and the interest for the beginning of the redemption month up to the proposed redemption date.

There are also registration and conveyance fees that need to be paid if you wish to pay off your HDB loan earlier.

Late Payment Charges

If you are unable to make your HDB monthly payment on time, you will be charged a late payment penalty at the rate of 7.5% per annum. This will be charged on the due installment amount for that month.

It is important to note that while paying back the amount, it will be first used to clear the late payment charge, then the outstanding installment amount.

Make Your Housing Loan Payments On Time

To sum it up, there are various methods that you can use to make your housing loan repayments in Singapore. Now that you know how to pay housing loan, you can choose the method that best suits your needs and financial situation.

If you have any questions or need more information, you can visit the HDB website or speak to the staff at a HDB branch nearest to you.

Having trouble making your monthly repayments for your HDB loan? Licensed money lender Katong Credit can help.

Get in touch with us now or apply for a loan using your Singpass today. It just takes five minutes.