SINGAPORE – Over the last five years, 845 appeals for an income ceiling waiver was approved for executive condominium (EC) applicants who exceeded the income cap.
In a July 10 response to The Straits Times’ queries in April, HDB revealed that it approved 845 out of 2,583 appeals submitted between 2020 and 2025.
The monthly income ceiling for EC buyers is currently at $16,000.
On April 8, National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat revealed in Parliament that the number of appeals from EC buyers to waive the income ceiling more than doubled to 1,147 in 2025 from 461 in 2024.
Appeals dropped by half from 496 in 2022 to 237 in 2023. Before that, they inched up steadily from 43 in 2020 to 199 in 2021.
Chee was responding to Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh’s question in Parliament on the number of appeals the ministry received from EC applicants and Build-To-Order (BTO) flat applicants who exceeded their income ceilings.
The current income ceiling for BTO flat buyers is $14,000 for families and $7,000 for singles.
The Ministry of National Development and HDB are reviewing the income ceilings.
In its reply to ST, HDB attributed the increase in appeals among EC buyers to a bigger supply of EC units offered in 2025 and strong demand.
HDB said that 2,108 EC units were offered in 2025, the highest annual supply over the period of 2020 to 2025. This is also more than double the units launched in 2024.
Specifically, 4,133 EC applications were received for three projects launched in 2025. The projects are Aurelle of Tampines, Otto Place in Tengah, and Coastal Cabana in Pasir Ris.
HDB said that appeals are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account any extenuating circumstances of applicants and their families, such as heavy financial commitments for ongoing medical care and long-term expenses.
It also pointed out that the number of appeals received and approved may not tally, as the appeals received in a calendar year may be approved in a subsequent year.
Meanwhile, new measures were introduced in May following a review of the EC scheme over affordability concerns, and apply to all government land sales sites for ECs with tenders closing from May 8.
The new measures include extending the minimum occupation period to 10 years, up from five years, to ensure that ECs are mainly for owner-occupation rather than investment.
Also, developers can no longer offer the deferred payment scheme, which allows EC buyers to pay 20 per cent of the purchase price upfront, with the remaining 80 per cent deferred until the project obtains its temporary occupation permit. From May 8, the normal payment scheme, where progressive payments are made based on construction milestones, applies to all EC buyers.
This comes after the review found that the proportion of first-time EC buyers has dropped in the past few years relative to second-time buyers, who typically have larger budgets as they can tap the proceeds of their first homes.
In 2020, about half of EC buyers were first-timers. This proportion dropped to between 30 per cent and 40 per cent in 2024 and 2025.
Meanwhile, the median prices of new EC units have more than doubled in the past decade from $797 psf in 2015 to $1,754 psf in 2025.
In contrast, median HDB resale flat prices grew 51 per cent from $400 psf in 2015 to $604 psf in 2025.
Fuelling the jump in EC prices is robust demand from second-time buyers who can tap funds from selling their HDB flat, as well as higher land and development costs and growing competition for EC government land sales sites.
To improve the chances of first-time buyers securing ECs, developers must reserve 90 per cent of EC units for such buyers, up from 70 per cent, and extend the priority period from one month to two years.
Introduced in 1995, the EC housing scheme aimed to provide a more affordable option for higher-income Singaporeans who aspire to own private housing. EC projects, which are strata-titled, are developed and sold by private developers, who bid for EC sites through the government land sales programme.
While ECs are priced by private developers, they are sold with initial eligibility and ownership restrictions, including an income ceiling and a minimum occupation period.
This reduces the land costs, and new ECs tend to be priced 20 to 30 per cent lower than private condominiums of similar size and location, HDB said.
“Source:[Over 2,500 appeals to waive EC income ceiling in past 5 years; 845 appeals approved: HDB] © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction”
