Servicing ratios
TDSR and MSR in Singapore
The two caps that decide how much a buyer can borrow, the rate floor that makes the arithmetic surprising, and a calculator that shows the provision behind its answer.
| TDSR | MSR | |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | 55% of gross monthly income | 30% of gross monthly income |
| What counts in the numerator | Every monthly debt obligation, property and otherwise | Property loan instalments only |
| Which properties | All property loans | A credit facility or re-financing facility for the purchase of an HDB flat; a credit facility or re-financing facility for an executive condominium whose minimum occupation period has not expired |
| Kind of instrument | Guideline — MAS expects lenders not to exceed it | Notice — a bank must not grant the facility |
| In force from | 16 December 2021 | 12 January 2013 for HDB flats, 10 December 2013 for ECs |
This is a study tool, not financial advice, and not a loan offer. It applies the published caps to the figures entered. A lender applies its own credit assessment on top of them, may set a lower internal threshold, and will also apply the loan-to-value limits set out further down this page, which this calculator does not model — they cap the loan rather than the instalment, and age and tenure change which limit applies.
TDSR is a guideline: MAS expects lenders not to exceed 55%, and a loan above it should be granted only on an exceptional and documented basis. MSR is a notice: a bank must not grant the facility at all. That distinction is examinable.
Source: Monetary Authority of Singapore · Guidelines on the Application of Total Debt Servicing Ratio for Property Loans, paragraph 2.2(b) · checked 2026-08-28
The rate the bank uses is not the rate you were quoted
The bank must compute the instalment at the higher of this floor and the facility's thereafter interest rate. It is never the promotional first-year rate.
Since 30 September 2022 the floor has been 4% for residential property and 5% for non-residential. Before that date the figures were 3.5% and 4.5%. This single rule is why a borrower's own arithmetic and the bank's disagree: a package advertised at well under the floor is assessed at the floor, so the instalment used in the ratio is larger than the one that will actually be paid in year one.
Source: Monetary Authority of Singapore · MAS Notice 645, paragraph 10(b) · checked 2026-08-28
Not all income counts in full
Fixed monthly income is recognised in full. Variable income — commission, bonus, allowance — is recognised at no more than 70%, and so is rental income. Rental income counts only where the tenancy agreement has at least six months left to run.
A salesperson earning S$4,000 fixed and S$6,000 in commission does not have S$10,000 of recognised income. They have S$8,200. Getting this wrong overstates borrowing power by exactly the margin that gets an application refused, and it is the most common error in the advice a client will already have read online.
Source: Monetary Authority of Singapore · MAS Notice 645, paragraphs 17(b), 17A and 18 · checked 2026-08-28
How much a bank may lend: the loan-to-value limits
The servicing ratios above cap the monthly instalment. A second, separate cap limits the loan itself, and it is set by a different instrument — MAS Notice 632, Residential Property Loans, issued under the Banking Act 1970, section 55. Both apply at once, and whichever bites first is the one that decides the loan.
Two conditions decide which row a borrower lands on: how many other housing loans they are already servicing, and whether the loan runs long. A loan runs long if its tenure exceeds 30 years for a property that is not an HDB flat, or 25 years for an HDB flat, or if the tenure plus the borrower's age at application exceeds 65 years. The tenure cap is not one number, and two buyers on identical tenures can land in different rows because of it.
| Other housing loans | Long tenure or age | Maximum loan | Minimum cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | No | 75% | 5% |
| None | Yes | 55% | 10% |
| One | No | 45% | 25% |
| One | Yes | 25% | 25% |
| 2 or more | No | 35% | 25% |
| 2 or more | Yes | 15% | 25% |
A borrower that is not an individual, or a vehicle set up to buy the property, is capped at 15% instead.
The percentage on its own overstates the loan
The headline percentage is only one of two caps, and the loan is limited to whichever is lower. Formally: the lower of LTV% x V and [(100% - Cash%) x V] - CPF. MAS Notice 632, paragraph 30(t)(i). CPF here is the amount actually WITHDRAWN from CPF towards the purchase price, not the balance the buyer holds -- see cpfDefinition below. The second limb is therefore the price less the mandatory cash less the CPF being applied, so applying MORE CPF to the purchase caps the loan LOWER, and a buyer applying little or no CPF is governed by the first limb. Read from the clean 2025 text on 2026-08-28, after an earlier gloss here stated the opposite direction and was refuted by the formula it sat beside.
Paying above valuation is funded in cash
V is the lower of the Adjusted Purchase Price and the current market valuation, so a buyer who agrees a price above the valuation funds the whole excess themselves, on top of the ordinary down payment. For a resale HDB flat whose option was granted on or after 1 January 2018, V is instead the lower of the HDB-confirmed value on the HDB Flat Portal, net of any discount or rebate, and the current market valuation. MAS Notice 632, paragraph 30(v).
Source: Monetary Authority of Singapore · MAS Notice 632, paragraph 30(t)(i), table scenarios (4C) to (20B) · checked 2026-08-28
Joint applications
On a joint application the debt obligations of every borrower are added together, and so are their gross monthly incomes. MAS Notice 645, paragraph 4. Neither figure is averaged, and neither borrower is assessed alone. A co-borrower with income but also with debt can move the ratio in either direction, which is why adding one is not automatically help.
Source: Monetary Authority of Singapore · Guidelines on the Application of Total Debt Servicing Ratio for Property Loans, paragraph 2.2(b) · checked 2026-08-28
Common questions
What is the TDSR limit in Singapore?
MAS expects property loans not to exceed a total debt servicing ratio of 55% of gross monthly income, for loans where the option to purchase was granted on or after 16 December 2021. It was 60% before that date.
Is TDSR a law?
No. TDSR is a MAS Guideline: MAS expects lenders to observe it, and a loan above it should be granted only on an exceptional and documented basis. MSR is different -- it sits in MAS Notice 645, which binds the bank.
What is the difference between TDSR and MSR?
TDSR counts every monthly debt obligation against 55% of income and applies to all property loans. MSR counts property loan instalments only, against 30% of income, and applies to HDB flats and to executive condominiums still within their minimum occupation period.
Does MSR apply to a private condominium?
No. MSR reaches HDB flats and executive condominiums whose minimum occupation period has not expired. A private condominium, and a resale executive condominium past its MOP, are subject to TDSR alone.
What interest rate is used to work out TDSR?
The higher of a medium-term rate floor and the facility's thereafter rate -- 4% for residential property and 5% for non-residential since 30 September 2022. It is never the promotional first-year rate, which is why a bank's figure is higher than a borrower's own.
How much can I borrow for a property in Singapore?
A bank may lend up to 75% of the lower of the purchase price and the valuation if you have no other housing loan and the loan does not run long, with at least 5% paid in cash. One other outstanding housing loan drops that, and two or more drops it again. The limit is set by MAS Notice 632, Residential Property Loans, separately from TDSR.
Why is my loan smaller than the loan-to-value percentage suggests?
Because the limit is the lower of two figures, not just the percentage. The second is the property's value less the required cash percentage less your available CPF, so a buyer holding little CPF is capped below the headline band. Paying above the valuation is funded entirely by you on top of that.
Does commission income count towards TDSR?
Only in part. Variable income such as commission, bonus or allowance is recognised at no more than 70%, and rental income at no more than 70%. Fixed monthly income is recognised in full.
Practise the rules you just applied
Ten questions on Singapore property financing from the RES bank - the MAS servicing rules, CPF and housing loans - each with the provision behind it. Short practice, not a paper: it is not scored out of 100 marks and it does not give a verdict. Enable JavaScript to practise here, or read the sourced pages linked above.
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