Do not renovate an HDB flat before resale completion

Last updated 31 October 2026.

The question “can I do renovation before HDB completion?” is a possession question wearing a drill. The terms and conditions of sale and purchase of an HDB resale flat say the seller shall give vacant possession on resale completion and cannot reside in the flat once the keys are handed over, and that the buyer shall not obtain possession prior to resale completion. They also say the buyer notifies HDB and gets prior written consent before alterations. You cannot renovate a flat you are not allowed to possess, and you should not alter it without the consent the terms describe. Homey Furnishing will not be the contractor who turns up with a key the buyer “borrowed” before the appointment. That visit does not exist on this site.

HDB’s resale completion page is the practical timetable. It says completion is about 8 weeks after HDB accepts the resale application, that you are notified by SMS, and that the letter is on My Flat Dashboard. It tells the seller to vacate before the appointment, to arrange an inspection with the buyers, and to have the keys ready to hand over. It says the documents to bring are those in the appointment letter, and it lists examples including identity cards, the option, the town-council confirmation, and the keys. If you have appointed HDB as solicitor you attend in person. If you have private solicitors, their representative may attend, which you confirm with them. Financing changes the time of day on that page. None of that is a renovation slot. A Power of Attorney, if you cannot attend, is also HDB’s topic. We do not draft one.

What the buyer can book, the day the keys are actually theirs, is on the fixture-handover page: a hinge at S$60 to S$120, silicone at S$80 to S$150, a 4 to 5-room reset at S$688. What the seller can book, while they still own and possess the flat, is a viewing touch-up. Those are different clients. Mixing them into one WhatsApp thread is how a buyer pays for a seller’s scuff or a seller is asked to hack a bathroom for a buyer who cannot enter. Say who owns the flat today. If the answer is “completion is Thursday”, the tools wait until Friday or whenever possession is real.

Eligibility to rent the flat out after completion is not a reason to renovate early either. HDB’s renting-out eligibility page is where occupation conditions are published. The buyer’s declaration on HDB’s site also describes a minimum occupation period before a whole flat is rented, and it says the length HDB applies can differ for Plus and Prime flats. Read that page. Do not ask us whether your household has met it. We will not market a room “as soon as the paint dries” and we will not start the paint before completion so that a tenancy can start sooner. A property agent, if you use one, is checked on CEA’s register. We are not that agent.

Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 202018148K), 27 Mandai Estate, #06-10 Innovation Place, Singapore 729931, invoices permit-exempt maintenance. V On Construction Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 201611708H), on the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors, invoices hacking, a new layout, and other work that needs an HDB renovation permit. Homey Furnishing is not a Council for Estate Agencies licensed estate agent and does not sell, rent or market flats. It is not a Ministry of Manpower licensed employment agency and does not place helpers.

Curtains, blinds and roller shades are not part of this booking. This page also does not sell or rent the home, and it does not place a domestic worker.

If you do not yet have vacant possession, the only correct booking is none.

1. Read the appointment letter for the date and the documents.
2. If you are the buyer, do not collect a contractor’s quote that assumes entry this week.
3. If you are the seller, you may book interior touch-up while you still possess the flat.
4. After completion, photograph fittings and match a band.
5. Leave option, valuation, tax and GIRO questions on HDB’s page.

The building changes the permission. It does not invent a second price.

HDB tells sellers to terminate GIRO for conservancy, tax and utilities, and to pay conservancy up to the completion date so the town council can sign the confirmation. A handyman invoice does not replace that letter. Property tax apportionment happens at the appointment, in HDB’s description. We do not calculate it.

People ask what to do after completion. Physically: change nothing that needs consent until you have read the terms, then book fittings that match a band. Legally: follow the letter and your solicitor. The fixture page is the physical half only. In what order you renovate a house you now possess is still permit first for hacking, defects first if a year is running, and hours as HDB wrote them. There is no Homey sequence that skips those.

How you're charged

A job that already has a sentence on HomeySG uses that sentence. The hour is not added on top of a band unless the written scope says so. There is no fuel surcharge. A whole-flat repaint, a private defect-scan fee, and a litre of a named paint brand are not in the catalogue.

Who is allowed to do the work

HDB’s important information on renovation says renovation in a flat, including some work that does not need a permit, is carried out by a contractor from the Directory of Renovation Contractors. The same page says failing to use a listed contractor for renovations, or breaching the renovation rules, can lead to a fine of up to $5,000. That sentence is HDB’s. It is not a ruling on your flat. Read the page before you treat a handyman visit as a renovation.

• Permit-exempt maintenance that already has a band, such as a hinge, a silicone joint or a small hole patch, stays on the Homey Furnishing invoice.
• Hacking, a new layout, and replacement of toilet finishes inside HDB’s restriction period move to V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H. The price of that permit scope is quote on inspection.
• A new cable or a consumer unit is an EMA licensed electrician. A new water point is a PUB licensed plumber. Piped gas is a licensed gas worker.
• Window installation and replacement on an HDB flat is a BCA approved window contractor on HDB’s directory, with a renovation permit first. BCA describes workhead RW01. Homey Furnishing is not that contractor.
• Selling, renting or marketing the flat is estate agency work. CEA registers property agents. We do not do that work.
• A weekly cleaner on this site is not a migrant domestic worker placement. We do not hire out helpers.
• Curtains, blinds and roller shades are not part of this booking.

Ways to keep the bill smaller

• Photograph every mark before you book a full repaint. A hole that matches the S$150 to S$280 sentence does not need a whole-flat price.
• Put several permit-exempt tasks on one visit. The S$55 call-out is one task. Further permit-exempt time is S$45 an hour, not a second trip.
• Report a new-flat defect to HDB, or the developer if the contract says so, before you pay anyone to cover it.
• Do not hack a bathroom floor to “save” a later leak. HDB’s three-year restriction exists so the flat below stays dry.
• A seller who still owns the flat can book a viewing touch-up. A buyer who does not yet possess it cannot book a hack.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630.

There is no price for works before possession. The rows below are what a completed resale can use afterwards.

Anything not in that table is quote on inspection.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630. The reply uses a band already printed on HomeySG, or it says quote on inspection.

• Fittings after completion
• Seller’s viewing touch-up
• Hours once work is allowed
• New flats, a different sequence
• Handover packages
• Move day