Rent Out HDB Room 2026: Rules, Cap, Tax and Rents

HDB block with red, yellow and blue panels above palm trees — A common room in an HDB flat was advertised at about S$900 a month in mid-2026. Photo: Galen Crout on Unsplash

At a glance

Who can rent out rooms: Owners of 3-room or bigger flats, including PRs and Plus or Prime flat owners; no MOP needed
Rooms allowed: 1 bedroom in a 3-room flat; 2 in a 4-room or bigger flat
Occupancy cap: 6 in a 3-room; 8 in a 4-room or bigger until 31 Dec 2028, then 6
Rules: HDB approval before the tenant moves in; minimum 6 months; owner must live there
Checked: 14 October 2026

The short answer

If you own a 3-room or bigger HDB flat, you can rent out one or two bedrooms with HDB’s approval, as long as you keep living in the flat yourself. You do not need to have passed your MOP, and PR owners can do it too. Each tenant must stay at least 6 months, the number of people in the flat is capped, and the rent counts as taxable income. We checked these rules against HDB, URA and IRAS on 14 October 2026.

Who can rent out a room

The rules for rooms are looser than for the whole flat. The main difference is that you stay.

	Renting out bedrooms	Renting out the whole flat
Flat type	3-room or bigger	Any
MOP	Not needed	Must be met (5 years for most flats)
Owner citizenship	Citizens and PRs	Citizens only
Plus and Prime flats	Allowed	Not allowed
Owner lives in the flat	Required	No
Non-citizen quota	Does not apply	Applies

A 3-room flat can rent out 1 bedroom and a 4-room or bigger flat up to 2. Only bedrooms that HDB originally built count. You cannot partition the living room or turn a store room into a tenant’s room.

How to get approval

You apply online through HDB’s e-services before the tenant moves in. The outcome is immediate, and the fee on HDB’s eligibility page is S$9 per bedroom. The rental must start by the end of the following calendar month.

After that, report any change within 7 days: a tenant moving out, a renewal or a change in tenant details. A new tenant needs fresh approval before moving in. Renting without approval can lead to a penalty, and HDB can compulsorily acquire the flat of an owner who repeatedly breaks the rules.

The occupancy cap

The cap counts everyone living in the flat: owners, family members listed as occupiers and tenants.

Flat type	Bedrooms you can rent out	Maximum people in the flat
1-room and 2-room	None	Not applicable
3-room	1	6
4-room and bigger	2	8 until 31 December 2028, then 6

The 8-person cap started in January 2024 as a temporary measure. URA and HDB extended it on 16 January 2026 to 31 December 2028 and said they would review it before then. Any rental period that runs past that date is held to 6 people.

Tenant rules

Each tenant must stay at least 6 months per application. Approvals last up to 3 years, or 2 years if any tenant is a non-Malaysian foreigner.

Tenants can be:

Singapore citizens and PRs
foreigners legally in Singapore on an Employment Pass, S Pass, Work Permit, Student Pass, Dependant’s Pass or Long-Term Social Visit Pass, valid for at least 6 months on the application date

Work Permit holders in construction, marine and process must be Malaysian. Tourists cannot rent any HDB room. A tenant generally cannot own another HDB flat, with exceptions for divorced or separated owners and owners renting out their own flat within a month.

The non-citizen quota of 8% per neighbourhood and 11% per block does not apply to room rentals, so you can take a foreign tenant even if your block’s quota for whole-flat rentals is full.

Must you live in the flat?

Yes, and this is where many owners slip up. HDB requires owners and authorised occupiers to be in “physical and continuous occupation”. If you move out to stay with family and keep a locked room for weekends, HDB treats it as renting out the whole flat without approval. The room approval is revoked automatically.

If you want to move out and rent the whole flat, you need to meet the MOP and be a citizen. Our rent out or sell quiz compares that option with selling.

Tax on room rent

Rent is taxable income. You declare it in your annual tax return and pay tax on the net amount at your personal rate.

Expenses. IRAS lets you deduct a flat 15% of the gross rent instead of itemising expenses, plus mortgage interest. Its e-Tax Guide says renting out a room in an HDB flat qualifies, as long as you have at least one deductible expense other than interest, such as property tax.
Property tax. Because you still live there, the flat keeps the lower owner-occupier rates. Renting out the whole flat would move it to the higher rates.
Stamp duty. A written tenancy agreement needs stamp duty, generally 0.4% of the total rent for the lease, paid within 14 days of signing.

Typical room rents

HDB does not publish room rents, only whole-flat rents. The best recent figure we found is from Hozuko, a room listing site, based on asking rents up to 28 June 2026.

Region	Common room, median	Master room, median
Central	S$1,180	S$1,800
East	S$950	S$1,400
North-East	S$900	S$1,300
West	S$890	S$1,300
North	S$850	S$1,300
All HDB	S$900	S$1,400

These are asking rents, so signed rents may be a little lower. For whole-flat rents by town and block, from HDB’s own approvals, see our HDB rental rates checker.

Worked example: two rooms in a Sengkang 4-room flat

Wei Jie and his wife own a 4-room flat in Sengkang, bought in 2023, so it is still within its MOP. They live there with their son. They rent out both spare bedrooms, one tenant each, at S$900 a month.

Item	Amount
People in the flat	5, under the cap of 8
Rent a year (2 rooms x S$900 x 12)	S$21,600
Less 15% deemed expenses	S$3,240
Net rent before mortgage interest	S$18,360
Extra tax if their top rate is 11.5% (split between joint owners)	about S$2,110
Stamp duty per 12-month agreement (0.4% of S$10,800)	about S$43

Their housing loan interest would cut the taxable figure further. The MOP does not stop them, but if they later move out for a year, the rental becomes unauthorised and they would need to stop or apply to rent the whole flat once eligible.

Before you advertise

Check that the room is an original HDB bedroom and count everyone who will live in the flat.
Confirm the tenant’s pass is valid for at least 6 more months.
Apply on HDB’s portal before the move-in date and keep a written tenancy agreement.

This page is general information from HDB, URA and IRAS guidance, checked on 14 October 2026.

Common questions

Can I rent out a room in my HDB flat before the MOP?

Yes. The MOP applies to renting out the whole flat, not bedrooms. Owners of 3-room and bigger flats can rent out rooms at any time, as long as all owners and occupiers keep living in the flat.

Can PR owners rent out a room?

Yes. Only citizen owners can rent out the whole flat, but any owner of a 3-room or bigger flat can rent out bedrooms with HDB's approval, including PRs and owners of Plus and Prime flats.

Do I need to live in the flat while renting out rooms?

Yes. HDB's terms say owners and authorised occupiers must be in physical and continuous occupation. Living elsewhere and keeping a locked room for occasional visits does not count, and HDB revokes the approval automatically if you move out.

How many tenants can I have?

It depends on the cap, which counts everyone living in the flat. A 3-room flat can hold 6 people and a 4-room or bigger flat 8, until 31 December 2028. A family of four in a 4-room flat can therefore take up to 4 tenants across its 2 rentable bedrooms.

Does the non-citizen quota apply to room rentals?

No. HDB's non-citizen quota of 8% per neighbourhood and 11% per block applies only when you rent out the whole flat. Room tenants still need a valid pass, such as an Employment Pass, S Pass, Work Permit, Student Pass, Dependant's Pass or Long-Term Social Visit Pass, valid for at least 6 months.

Do I pay tax on room rent?

Yes. Rent is taxable income. You can deduct a flat 15% of the gross rent instead of itemised expenses, plus mortgage interest, and the rest is taxed at your personal rate. Because you still live in the flat, it keeps the lower owner-occupier property tax rates.

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Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources on 14 October 2026.