CPF and your home (2024)

You can pay for your home with your CPF savings. Learn about CPF Withdrawal Limits, buying a second property and properties with less than 60 years lease.

Using CPF for your home

You may use your CPF savings to pay for part of the purchase price of your home and to service the loan. However, there is a cap on how much you can use if you're taking a bank loan.

CPF savings can only be used for properties built on freehold or leasehold land with a remaining lease of more than 20 years, provided the remaining lease can cover the youngest buyer until at least the age of 95.

Key considerations

Many of us will use CPF to pay for our homes. Yet at the same time, CPF is meant for our retirement. So before committing to your dream home, keep in mind that:

• The more money you spend on housing, the less you will have for retirement. Don’t allow your total debt repayments to take up a large proportion of your income.
• Be aware of the CPF Withdrawal Limit. When the total CPF savings used for the property have reached the limit, you and your co-payer may have to pay the remaining of your monthly instalments in cash.

CPF Withdrawal Limit

Based on whether you are buying a new HDB flat, resale flat or a private property, the Valuation Limit or the Withdrawal Limit may apply.

• Valuation Limit is the lower of the purchase price or valuation at the time of purchase.
• Withdrawal Limit is the maximum amount of CPF you can use for your home, currently capped at 120% of the Valuation Limit.

Example

If the purchase price of an apartment is $300,000 and its valuation is $330,000, the Valuation Limit will be $300,000 and the Withdrawal Limit is $360,000.

What happens after age 55

On your 55th birthday, a Retirement Account (RA) will be created for you. Savings up to your Full Retirement Sum from your Special Account and Ordinary Account (OA) would be transferred to your RA.

You can continue to use the following from your CPF savings to pay your housing loan:

• Savings which you have applied to reserve in your OA before your 55th birthday. This reserved amount will not be transferred to your RA. You can continue to use it to pay your housing loan after turning 55 years old. Do note, though, that this would reduce your monthly retirement income.
• Your new contributions to your OA (if you continue working after 55).
• Your RA savings above your Basic Retirement Sum.

Buying a second property

If you have used your CPF for your home and wish to use the excess of your CPF OA for a second property, you're able to do this after setting aside the BRS.

The total CPF Withdrawal Limit allowed for your second property is capped at 100% of the Valuation Limit.

Reaching the limit

When the total CPF savings used for the property have reached the limit, you and your co-payer may have to pay the remaining of your monthly instalments in cash. Check your repayment schedule to find out how much cash you need and when you need to pay up.

For more information, please refer to the CPF Board's housing schemes.

Properties with less than 60 years of remaining lease

If you're thinking of buying an older property (with less than 60 years lease remaining), CPF can still be used but under certain conditions to safeguard homebuyers' retirement adequacy.

CPF savings can only be used if you are buying a HDB flat or private property with a remaining lease of more than 20years, and the lease covers the youngest buyer until at least the age of 95.

The total CPF usage by the household is capped at a percentage of the property purchase price or the value of the property at the time of purchase, whichever is lower. You can refer to the CPF Board's housing schemes for more information.

Here's a summary of when CPF savings can be used for buying an older property:

For bank loans:

For HDB loans:

Do your sums

Use the CPF calculators to check your affordability, withdrawal limits, loan repayments and interest payable.