Buying Guide
TDSR vs MSR: What's the Difference and Which Applies to You
TDSR and MSR both limit how much home loan you can take, and both are expressed as a percentage of your income. That's where the similarity ends. Mixing them up is one of the most common reasons buyers misjudge their own affordability.
The core difference
TDSR (Total Debt Servicing Ratio) caps all your monthly debt repayments, home loan plus car loans, personal loans, credit card and other revolving loans, at 55% of your gross monthly income. MAS requires banks and other financial institutions to apply it to any loan to buy a property or secured by a property, residential or not, and to refinancing of those loans. HDB says TDSR is not applicable to an HDB housing loan.
MSR (Mortgage Servicing Ratio) caps the repayments on your property loans, including the one you are applying for, at 30% of gross monthly income, without counting your non-property debts. It applies to housing loans for HDB flats, and to executive condominiums (ECs) while the EC's Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) has not expired.
| TDSR | MSR | |
|---|---|---|
| Limit | 55% of gross income | 30% of gross income |
| Counts | All debt repayments | Property loans only |
| Applies to | Bank and financial-institution loans to buy, or secured by, a property | Loans for HDB flats, and for ECs while the EC's MOP has not expired |
Which one actually binds
If you're buying private property, or an EC past its MOP, only TDSR applies. Simple.
If you're buying an HDB flat with a bank loan, or an EC still within its MOP, both apply at the same time, and the stricter result wins. If you take an HDB loan, the 30% MSR applies and TDSR does not. Since MSR's 30% ceiling is tighter than TDSR's 55%, MSR is almost always the one that actually caps your loan in these cases, unless you have unusually heavy non-housing debt that pushes TDSR below MSR's limit instead.
Worked example
A single buyer earning $6,000 a month, with no other debt, is buying an HDB flat with a bank loan.
- TDSR ceiling: 55% × $6,000 = $3,300
- MSR ceiling: 30% × $6,000 = $1,800
MSR is the binding limit here. Even though TDSR would allow a $3,300 monthly repayment, the buyer's actual maximum is capped at $1,800 because MSR applies to this flat type.
Now take the same buyer buying a private condo instead. MSR does not apply, and the full $3,300 TDSR ceiling governs instead, roughly 83% more monthly repayment capacity for the identical income (before the bank's other credit checks).
See the full breakdown of TDSR, MSR and LTV together in our maximum home loan guide.
Why this trips people up
Buyers often check their affordability using a generic "55% of income" rule of thumb picked up from a private-property friend, without realising MSR applies to their specific flat type and cuts that number by nearly half. The property type (and, for an EC, whether its MOP has expired), not the buyer's debt profile, is what decides which ratios apply.
Check which ratio applies to your purchase with PropLeh's Max Loan Assessor.
FAQ
Does MSR ever apply to private property?
No. MAS applies MSR only to housing loans for HDB flats and for ECs whose MOP has not expired. For a private condo or landed home, or an EC past its MOP, only TDSR applies.
Can TDSR ever be the binding limit on an HDB flat?
Yes, if the buyer carries enough other debt (car loans, personal loans) that 55% of income minus that debt works out lower than 30% of income minus other property loans. This is uncommon but possible for buyers with significant non-housing liabilities.
Does MSR disappear when my HDB flat's MOP ends?
No. MAS's MSR rule for HDB flats has no MOP condition. MSR stops applying only to ECs once their MOP expires. Check with your bank if you are refinancing or restructuring an HDB loan, as refinancing has its own exemptions: MAS exempts owner-occupied housing loans from the TDSR threshold and MSR limit at the time of refinancing.
Related guides
- Co-Borrowers and Guarantors on a Singapore Home Loan
- CPF Home Protection Scheme: Who Needs It, Premiums
- Home Equity Loans (MWL) in Singapore: MAS Rules
Figures current as of October 2026. Always verify against the live MAS/HDB pages before relying on them, as ratios can be revised.
Not sure which ratio applies to your specific purchase? Check it with PropLeh's Max Loan Assessor, or message us on WhatsApp and we'll work through it with you.