Bridging loan

Rates and thresholds change. The current figures are kept in one place: the Singapore property rules reference.

Bridging loans are most common for HDB upgraders moving into a private property before their HDB flat sale completes, since the new down payment and legal costs are due well before the old flat's proceeds are received.

The practical playbook: qualify for the bridging repayment under TDSR alongside the new mortgage, size the bridge to cover only the genuine downpayment shortfall rather than the whole gap, and use the eventual sale proceeds of the existing property to clear the bridge in full at completion.

Because bridging rates run meaningfully above typical mortgage rates and are only intended to be short term, a bridging loan should always be paired with a realistic, dated plan to sell the existing property, not used as open ended financing.

What is an HDB bridging loan?

An HDB bridging loan is the short term facility an HDB upgrader uses when the new property completes before the HDB flat sale completes. It comes from a bank, not from HDB. The bridge covers the downpayment shortfall in the overlap and is repaid in full from the flat's sale proceeds. The mortgage on the new property is a separate loan.

What is bridging finance?

Bridging finance is short term borrowing that covers a gap until a known sum arrives. In Singapore property that sum is usually the sale proceeds of the property being sold, which is why the term is short and the loan is repaid in one go.

Winfred Quek is an Associate Marketing Consultant at Crestbrick Pte Ltd (CEA Licence No. L3010886H). CEA R073319H. This page is for general information only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Verify current figures with IRAS, HDB, CPF Board, or MAS before making any decision.