SINGAPORE: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) will extend the validity of all existing and new HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letters to nine months, up from the current six months.
The extended validity period will give both new and resale flat buyers more time to secure their homes and reduce the number of subsequent applications when their existing HFE letters expire, HDB said in a press release on Saturday (Nov 4), adding that the extension would take effect from Tuesday.
The HFE letter replaced the HDB Loan Eligibility (HLE) letter in May this year, streamlining the home buying process by integrating the different eligibility assessments for HDB flat purchases, housing grants and HDB housing loans.
Since its implementation, HDB said it has processed more than 65,000 applications from both resale and new flat buyers, of which 60,600 applications were approved and issued with HFE letters.
About 11,000 of those with valid HFE letters applied for a flat in the October 2023 Build-to-Order (BTO) sales exercise.
The validity extension of all existing and new HFE letters to nine months is part of HDB’s efforts to “provide greater convenience” for flat buyers in their home buying process.
Existing HFE letters will have their validity extended to nine months from the date of issuance of the letter and applicants with a valid HFE letter will be informed of this automatic extension progressively via SMS.
New applications for HFE letter and those being processed will be issued with a nine-month validity period from the issuance date of the letter, HDB said.
It added the validity extension would also help to reduce the number of reapplications and document submissions required for flat buyers who need more time to secure their homes.
The longer validity period – depending on when the HFE letter is issued – could also allow BTO flat applicants to participate in more sales launches, HDB said.
DECEMBER BTO SALES LAUNCH
Flat buyers who intend to apply for a flat in next month’s BTO sales launch are advised to apply for an HFE letter and submit all the required documents by Nov 11, HDB added.
It generally takes about a month to process an HFE letter application after all the required documents have been received, and processing may take longer during peak periods like a BTO sales launch.
“We encourage those who intend to buy a flat to apply for their HFE letter early and to provide all the required documents, to ensure that their applications can be processed expeditiously,” HDB said.
HDB will offer around 6,010 BTO flats across eight projects in the final sales exercise of 2023 in December. One of these projects will be located at Sin Ming Road in Bishan, set to be the first flats to be built in the area in 35 years.
The last of three projects in Ulu Pandan’s eastern half will also be part of December’s sales exercise – the first two were launched in November 2022 and February 2023 respectively.
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