📌 Quick Answer
When you buy a condo that is still being constructed from a licensed developer, you pay for it across the period during which the development is being built. Singapore’s progressive payment schedule for a new condo is fixed by law, with payments mandated across 10 milestones. The Housing Developers Rules require these stages to add up to exactly 100% of the purchase price.
Buying a condo that is under construction can make purchasing a private property feel more manageable. Instead of paying the full price at once, you pay in stages as the development moves from breaking ground to the point where you can collect the keys. How much you pay, and when, is protected by the Housing Developers Rules, part of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act.
The Rules dictate the percentage of the purchase price payable at each stage of construction. It’s important to note that payments may not arrive at evenly spaced intervals. Because payments are triggered by certified construction progress, rather than fixed dates, you might wait several months for one payment notice, only for the next two to follow fairly quickly.
There is also a difference between the amount due and the amount you personally need to pay from your own funds. Depending on your financing arrangement, each payment may come from cash, CPF savings, your bank loan or a combination of the three. To plan your cash flow, you need to know what triggers each payment, how much of the purchase price you will have paid by then and how you will be financing the payments.
The 10-stage progressive payment schedule
The schedule begins when you book your unit, followed by the payment due when you sign the Sale and Purchase Agreement. From there, you move through six construction milestones before the two larger payments at TOP and final completion, 10 stages altogether.
We put together a rough guide to what to expect when you’re making progressive payments on your condo purchase. Along with the payment milestones, we asked PropertyGuru’s in-house developer and sales teams to estimate the timelines you can expect when purchasing a private property that is being constructed.
The table below uses a 5% booking fee, which is what buyers will commonly encounter. However, the Housing Developers Rules allow the developer to charge up to 10%, so check the figure in your Option to Purchase. If your booking fee is higher than 5%, you will simply pay less at the next stage, as the total paid still needs to reach 20% when you sign the Sale and Purchase Agreement.
| Milestone | % | Duration (estimated) | Timeline (estimated) | Payment mode |
| Booking fee (option) | 5 | 8 weeks | Day 0 | Cash only |
| Sale & Purchase Agreement signed | 15 | — | Month 2 | Cash and/or CPF Ordinary Account |
| Foundation completed | 10 | 6–9 mo | Month 8–11 | CPF OA and/or bank loan |
| Framework: reinforced concrete works | 10 | 6–9 mo | Month 14–20 | CPF OA and/or bank loan |
| Walls & partition | 5 | 3–6 mo | Month 17–26 | CPF OA and/or bank loan |
| Roof & ceiling | 5 | 3–6 mo | Month 20–32 | CPF OA and/or bank loan |
| Door & window frames | 5 | 3–6 mo | Month 23–38 | CPF OA and/or bank loan |
| Carparks, roads & drainage | 5 | 3–6 mo | Month 26–44 | CPF OA and/or bank loan |
| TOP (key collection) | 25 | 9–12 mo | Month 35–56 | CPF OA and/or bank loan |
| CSC (legal completion) | 15 | 12 mo | Month 47–68 | CPF OA and/or bank loan |
Disclaimer: the payment mode (cash, CPF or loan) shown above is indicative and based on the Loan-to-Value tier applicable to the buyer. Your own bank or HDB loan approval will confirm exactly what applies to your purchase.
The percentage column is fixed by the Housing Developers Rules. The Duration and Timeline columns are typical ranges compiled from industry sources, not figures set by law, since actual construction pace varies by project; treat them as planning estimates, not guarantees.
Looking at the schedule cumulatively makes it easier to see how your commitment builds. By the time you sign the Sale and Purchase Agreement, you will generally have paid 20% of the purchase price. That rises to 40% once the reinforced concrete framework is complete and 60% before the development reaches TOP.
Why every stage matters for your cash-flow planning
You may come across shorter versions of the schedule that group several of the smaller milestones under a single construction progresses line. While that can provide a useful overview, it does not show when the individual payments may be called for. Each milestone can trigger a separate payment notice once the relevant work has been completed and certified. Several stages may be worth only 5% of the purchase price, but they could be reached close together, leaving you with less time between payments than expected.
Before relying on any schedule for cash-flow planning, check that it accounts for the full purchase price and compare it with the payment schedule in your own Sale and Purchase Agreement.
What this looks like on an actual purchase
The percentages become easier to understand when you translate them into actual dollar amounts. More importantly, an example shows how the amount billed at each stage may be financed.
Suppose you are buying an uncompleted condo for $1.2 million and qualify for the maximum 75% bank loan. Assuming the bank’s valuation is at least equal to the purchase price, your loan could be up to $900,000. You would need to fund the remaining $300,000 yourself, with at least $60,000 paid in cash within the option period. The rest can be paid using cash, eligible CPF savings or both.
If the developer charges a 5% booking fee, you would pay $60,000 when you book the unit. A further $180,000 would be due when you sign the Sale and Purchase Agreement, bringing the total paid to $240,000, or 20% of the purchase price.
As construction progresses, every 5% milestone represents $60,000, while every 10% milestone represents $120,000. The TOP-stage payment is $300,000, followed by the final $180,000 at completion.
What this means for your own cash-flow planning
These figures in the example above show how much comes due to the developer at each stage, but not how much you will personally need to produce each time. Depending on your financing arrangement, the payments may be covered by cash, CPF savings, your progressively disbursed bank loan or a combination of these.
The stages most people underestimate are the last two. TOP (when you officially collect your keys) and CSC (when the full sale is legally finalised) together make up 40% of the purchase price, and they typically land years after your booking fee. Your own income and other financial commitments may look quite different by then from when you first signed the Option to Purchase. Reviewing your own long-term budget against this full schedule, , even though your loan itself was approved once and is simply drawn down further as each stage is certified, gives you a more realistic picture of what you’re committing to throughout the process.
Quick recap
So, to recap: the progressive payment schedule for a new condo runs across 10 milestones prescribed by the Housing Developers Rules. A progressive payment schedule makes buying a condo more manageable by spreading the purchase price over the construction period. However, before booking a unit, look beyond the first 5% and consider how the full schedule fits into your longer-term finances. The percentages may be prescribed, but the timing between payments, the way you finance them and your financial circumstances can all change while the condo is being built.
Knowing the stages gives you a clearer view of what lies between booking the unit and collecting the keys, so you can prepare for each payment.
