When you buy an uncompleted private condo from a licensed developer in Singapore, the Sale and Purchase Agreement (S&PA) normally links payments to specified stages. Under the prescribed schedule, the first purchase-price stage totals 20% including the booking fee. Construction stages account for another 40%, a major handover-stage payment accounts for 25%, and the final 15% is dealt with under the agreement’s completion and stakeholder provisions.
Use the signed S&PA and actual notices to identify the due dates and recipients. A construction estimate helps you plan, but the contract determines when payment falls due. Arrange cash, approved CPF usage and bank drawdowns with your lawyer and lender before each payment, and keep stamp duty and other purchase costs in a separate budget.
- Credit the booking fee against the first 20% under the schedule.
- Track construction notices and prepare for more than one claim arriving close together.
- Confirm what cash, CPF and bank funds can be used at each stage.
- Separate the 25% handover-stage payment from legal completion.
- Ask your lawyer which prescribed agreement and stakeholder terms apply.
Find the section you need
Start with the payment table for a quick estimate. Read the financing and notices chapters before booking or responding to a call for payment.
Chapters 1–3
Ask for the relevant Option to Purchase (OTP) and Sale and Purchase Agreement before setting your funding plan. The prescribed contracts for an uncompleted unit explain when the developer may call for payment, what notices it must send and what happens if payments are late. Other transactions, including completed units or purchases from an existing owner, may follow a different schedule. This guide describes the staged purchase from a developer.
Check whether the revised forms apply
URA announced revised prescribed forms for projects launched on or after 31 December 2026, where no OTP was issued before that date. A project that had already issued an OTP before the transition can continue to use the earlier prescribed forms for unsold units, subject to the applicable rules and approved amendments. Buying a unit in 2027 does not establish which form you have. Ask your lawyer to identify the relevant documents and payment schedule.
Identify the first two amounts
URA’s guide describes a booking fee of between 5% and 10% under its earlier guidance. The prescribed balance at the first stage is 20% of the purchase price less the booking fee. Check the amount specified for the actual unit and the due date in your documents. Ask your lender and CPF Board which parts of the initial payment can be covered by each source. Confirm when each source is ready rather than assuming funds can be used on booking day.
Give fees a separate line
Buyer’s Stamp Duty, any applicable Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty, legal fees and moving expenses do not appear in the progressive price percentages. Obtain the applicable duty estimate and payment deadlines from official IRAS guidance or your lawyer. Keep funds available on the date they are due. A buyer can have enough for the first instalment and still need additional funds for a duty or legal bill arriving at around the same time.
Calculate the first stage with a specific booking amount
On a $1.6 million purchase, an illustrative booking fee of 5% is $80,000. If the applicable first stage is 20%, the balance at that stage is $240,000, giving a total of $320,000. This calculation concerns price only. Add applicable duties and other charges on their actual dates. Ask which amount must be in cash at booking and how any usable CPF or other financing will be applied later. A deposit already credited to the price must not be counted twice.
Read what the option requires if you change your mind
Before paying the booking fee, check the option’s exercise requirements and the consequences if you do not go ahead. Read the due dates and terms for the actual project. If you are relying on another buyer, approval or sale to fund the purchase, work out which uncertainty will remain by the time you need to make the decision. Discuss it with your lawyer before signing or paying.
Back to contents · Next chapter
The schedule sets out two 10% construction calls and four 5% calls. The prescribed descriptions identify works such as foundation, reinforced concrete framework, partition walls, roofing or ceiling, specified frames and internal services, and the car park, roads and drains. Read the wording in the applicable agreement. A photo of work on site does not establish that the contract’s notice or certification conditions have been met.
Keep one record for every call
Record the stage, date notice was received, amount, due date, verified payee and funding source. Send the notice to your conveyancing lawyer or lender using its agreed channel. Check whether the lender needs an original, a copy or instructions from the lawyer. Keep the confirmation of disbursement and the developer’s receipt when available.
Look at cumulative amounts
In the $1.6 million example below, the first stage of $320,000 and construction stages totalling $640,000 bring the cumulative scheduled price payments to $960,000, or 60%. The handover-stage payment brings that total to $1.36 million, or 85%. These are gross purchase-price amounts. They do not tell you how much of a particular stage must come from your cash, CPF or bank loan.
Prepare for claims that arrive close together
An estimate prepared at booking might show several months between two stages. The contract may allow certain notices in a different order, and more than one notice can arrive close together. Test your ability to cover a pair of claims without assuming there will be a full month between them. At a $1.6 million price, two separate 5% calls total $160,000. Confirm how quickly your funding sources can respond.
| Stage | Share | Illustrative amount |
|---|---|---|
| First stage including booking fee | 20% | $320,000 |
| Foundation | 10% | $160,000 |
| Reinforced concrete framework | 10% | $160,000 |
| Partition walls | 5% | $80,000 |
| Roofing or ceiling | 5% | $80,000 |
| Specified frames and internal works | 5% | $80,000 |
| Car park, roads and drains | 5% | $80,000 |
| Handover-stage documents | 25% | $400,000 |
| Final purchase price balance | 15% | $240,000 |
Back to contents · Previous chapter · Next chapter
Ask the bank and lawyer for the sequence in which the available funding will be used. The exact split depends on the approved loan, applicable financing rules and your CPF position. A purchase-price schedule and a bank disbursement schedule answer different questions. Keep both. When a demand comes in, check which funds must be ready and who sends the payment.
Ask what the bank needs before it pays
Check any conditions that must be satisfied before the first drawdown. Ask who provides the certified progress notice and how long the bank normally takes to process it. If the loan offer has a deadline or the lender needs new information before a drawdown, ask about it early. Keep an official contact so you can verify any unusual payment instructions or claimed changes.
Model the monthly cost while you wait
Progressive drawdown can mean the amount already borrowed changes as the building progresses. Ask the lender how repayments and interest will work for your loan and when each new drawdown changes what you owe. If you are renting another home, budget for the months in which you may pay both rent and mortgage costs. Use the bank’s actual estimate and test the budget for an earlier or later milestone.
Keep liquidity for changes in plans
Your household income or expenses can change during construction. Keep a reserve for payment timing and other obligations. If a co-buyer is contributing to an instalment, agree which person supplies the funds and when. When a source is tied to another sale, confirm when those proceeds or CPF refunds can be used before counting them toward a notice with a fixed deadline.
Back to contents · Previous chapter · Next chapter
The handover-stage payment is generally 25% under the prescribed agreement. The relevant trigger involves the Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) or Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC) documents and the prescribed notice about completion of infrastructure or related works. Ask your lawyer to confirm the actual documents and due date. TOP is a building milestone. The scheduled payment depends on the documents under your contract.
Plan keys and moving around confirmed instructions
After the applicable payment and the developer’s handover instructions, arrange key collection. Keep inspection, defect reporting and renovation on a separate schedule. Ask when maintenance charges begin under the applicable agreement and how much is payable. If you have an expiring rental lease, wait for verified dates before committing to a move you cannot rearrange.
Consider overlapping expenses at handover
For the example unit, the 25% price call is $400,000 before allocating financing. Around that time, the family may need cash for moving, appliance deposits and temporary accommodation. Set each expense out with its due date and funding source. If a vendor asks for an early payment, check whether it competes with the purchase or move reserve. Having access to the keys does not establish that every remaining purchase cost is settled.
Verify any last-minute payment change
If a payment notice asks for a new bank account or contact, verify it with the lawyer or developer through a previously established official channel. Check who should pay, the recipient and the amount before any transfer. Retain the verified instructions. Large staged payments make a clear approval process useful even where more than one family member is coordinating the transaction.
Back to contents · Previous chapter · Next chapter
The last 15% is governed by the agreement’s final payment provisions. The amounts and timing can depend on whether CSC has been issued and how it relates to legal completion and the final payment date. The prescribed arrangements can involve payments to the developer and amounts paid to the Singapore Academy of Law as stakeholder. Read your lawyer’s completion statement for the split that applies.
Keep TOP, CSC and completion distinct
TOP concerns occupation, while CSC is a separate certificate. Legal completion is when the title transaction is completed. These milestones can occur on different dates. Ask the lawyer which one triggers each amount and whether any funds are held as stakeholder. In the $1.6 million example the final 15% totals $240,000. The amount does not establish that the full sum is payable to one recipient on the day you collect keys.
If you have reported defects
Keep the defect report and the developer’s responses. If you think a permitted deduction could affect a stakeholder amount, ask your lawyer which procedure and deadline apply. Do not withhold an instalment or divert a payment based solely on an unresolved defect. The agreement controls what may be deducted and the required notices.
Reconcile the statement after completion
Compare the lawyer’s figures with the payment notices and bank disbursements. Record which sums are final and any amount being held or released later. Keep the receipts, title and mortgage records and the documentation for any outstanding item. This lets you check whether a later correspondence concerns a developer payment, a stakeholder release or a separate maintenance or repair cost.
Ask for the exact sequence on your own contract
For a buyer whose legal completion occurs before CSC and before the final payment date under the revised terms, the prescribed example has the 15% payable at completion, split between the vendor and a stakeholder. The stakeholder releases parts when the relevant conditions are met. If CSC comes first, the sequence in the schedule can instead produce separate demands. Ask the lawyer for a written breakdown with dates and destinations. Do not reuse a neighbour’s sequence if their documents or dates differ.
Separate a stakeholder release from a new payment
Some payments involve money already paid to a stakeholder and subsequently released. Check whether a notice asks you to fund a new amount or informs you about a release of funds already held. Compare the message with your lawyer’s statement and prior receipts. This distinction matters when checking how much cash or bank funding remains to be drawn.
Keep maintenance and title costs in the same calendar
Maintenance charges may start around handover under the applicable terms even if other purchase-price amounts remain outstanding. Put charges and completion costs next to the price timeline, using separate labels. Confirm how each bill is paid and whether it is recurring. The household can then estimate ongoing costs for the first several months after moving while still tracking any outstanding stage payment.
Back to contents · Previous chapter · Next chapter
Before you book, set out a base schedule from the developer’s information and a second one in which some claims arrive earlier. Include duties, rent, moving and legal costs. Mark each date as a contractual date, an estimated stage or a confirmed notice date. Give one person responsibility for updating the schedule when a notice arrives.
Practice with two near-term calls
Assume a 10% stage and a 5% stage arrive near one another on a $1.6 million purchase. Together they represent $240,000 of price payments. Ask your lawyer which sums can be paid through the bank and CPF and what cash is required. Check whether both draws can be prepared in time and what information the lender needs. Arrange the confirmed funds first, then review other spending.
Check your contingency if a funding source changes
If a planned sale takes longer or a co-buyer’s contribution is delayed, identify the instalment that would be affected. Tell the lawyer and lender promptly and ask what options are actually available. Read the contract’s late-payment and default provisions. Do not assume that a funding delay automatically changes the date in the notice.
Share the records with the people responsible
Keep the S&PA, notices, payment approvals and receipts together. Give household members access to the current schedule without sharing bank credentials. After each payment, record the amount paid, which source funded it and what remains available for later stages. This gives the next funding decision a confirmed starting point.
Calculate the amount still to fund after each notice
Suppose the purchaser has paid the full first 20%, foundation and framework on a $1.6 million unit. That is $640,000 in purchase-price payments, or 40%. The remaining scheduled price payments total $960,000. The outstanding price includes four 5% stages, the 25% handover stage and the 15% final balance. Ask the lender how much of the approved loan remains undrawn, then check the outstanding CPF and cash contributions. The purchase price balance and the undrawn loan are different figures.
A project is already well into construction when you book
If the project has already reached some milestones when you buy, ask the developer and your lawyer which notices may be issued soon after signing. Use the contract conditions to establish the due dates. The same percentages can produce very different cash demands over the next few months depending on how advanced the project is. Ask for the likely sequence and keep a plan for simultaneous calls. Confirm your funds before assuming the build will create long intervals between payments.
Use a simple cash reserve calculation
Make a row for the amount that must come from cash at the next expected stage. Add any duty, rent and legal payment due over the same period. Then deduct those amounts from cash the household can access on the relevant dates. Keep the emergency reserve separate. If any CPF or lender payment is still subject to conditions, mark that line as unconfirmed and ask who needs to act. A clear list can show which payment needs attention before the household compares overall affordability.
Check how to identify a valid notice
Ask your lawyer what information an authentic call for payment should contain and how the project will send it. Save the official communication channels and retain each notice with its attachments. If a payment reminder is unexpected, verify it independently before transferring funds or opening attachments from an unfamiliar sender.
Back to contents · Previous chapter · Next chapter
Is the booking fee on top of the first 20%?
The prescribed first-stage balance is 20% less the booking fee. Check the amount and payment date in your own agreement.
Does every buyer pay the whole stage in cash?
The gross amount is a percentage of the price. The actual allocation between cash, CPF and financing depends on the buyer’s approvals and the applicable terms.
Is the 25% payment triggered by keys?
Check the notice and documents specified in the agreement. Key collection generally follows the relevant payment and handover instructions.
Are stamp duties included in the percentages?
The percentages refer to the purchase price. Budget for applicable duties and other charges separately.
Can I use the developer’s estimated construction dates?
Use them to plan. Verify actual obligations from the signed agreement and formal notices.
Why might the last 15% have more than one recipient?
The prescribed final payment terms can use a stakeholder and can split payments depending on the order of CSC, legal completion and other dates. Ask your lawyer for the instructions for the case.
Back to contents · Previous chapter · Official sources and next reading