Renting out a room or the whole home

Rooms in an HDB flat

• Singapore Citizen and PR owners can rent out rooms; there is no non-citizen quota for rooms.
• A 3-room flat can rent out 1 bedroom and a 4-room or bigger flat 2. A 1-room or 2-room flat cannot rent out rooms.
• Only bedrooms HDB built count. Partitioned spaces cannot be rented as bedrooms.
• The flat may hold 6 people (3-room) or 8 people (4-room and bigger), owners and family included, even when the tenants are one family. The 8 falls back to 6 for rentals running past 31 December 2028.
• You must keep living in the flat. Locking a room and letting the rest of the flat counts as renting out the whole flat.
• Apply on MyHDB before the tenancy starts, at $9 a bedroom, and tell HDB within 7 days of any change. Rentals run from 6 months to 3 years (2 years for non-Malaysian PR or foreign tenants).

Room or whole flat: HDB

• Whole flat: Singapore Citizen owners only, after the MOP, not Prime or Plus flats. The non-citizen quota applies. Up to 4, 6 or 8 tenants by flat size.
• Rooms: citizen or PR owners who live in the flat, 3-room and bigger. No quota. Up to 6 or 8 people in the flat, owners included.

Condos and landed homes

• Every occupant must stay at least 3 consecutive months. Daily or weekly short-term stays are not allowed.
• A home under 90 sqm may house at most 6 unrelated people. A family unit, with its domestic helpers, counts as related.
• A home of 90 sqm or more may house up to 8 unrelated people until 31 December 2028, once the owner registers it with URA for a $20 fee. An executive condo must also be past its MOP.
• The cap also binds tenants who sublet, and the owner answers for it.
• Tenants need not be registered with URA, but check the condo’s by-laws, which may require it.

Tax

• Renting out rooms while you live in the home keeps owner-occupier property tax rates. Renting out the whole home moves it to the higher non-owner-occupier rates from the day it is let.
• The tenancy agreement is stamped within 14 days of signing: 0.4% of the total rent for a lease of up to 4 years.
• Rent you receive may be taxable income.

Questions

Sources

• HDB: Eligibility for renting out bedrooms
• HDB: Application process for renting out bedrooms
• HDB: Regulations for renting out bedrooms
• HDB: Eligibility for renting out a flat
• URA: Renting out private residential property
• URA and HDB: Occupancy cap relaxation extended to 31 December 2028 (16 January 2026)
• IRAS: Property tax when renting out your property

Rules and fees change. Check the linked official pages before you commit, and ask a lawyer about your own sale or purchase.

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