Green Home Loans in Singapore (2023): What They Are and How to Qualify

Global interest rates and Singapore mortgage rates have been on the rise, which makes it all the more important for home buyers and owners to search for competitive packages to finance their properties. What if we told you that you could enjoy preferential rates and/or additional incentives if your property is certified ‘green’? Read on to learn more.

As its name suggests, green home loans are special mortgage packages that reward borrowers for buying a sustainable property. This could be in the form of discounted rates, cash rebates, and/or other vouchers.

Currently, homeowners can only qualify if the property they are financing has been awarded a Green Mark by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) within the past three years. For example, if you are applying for a green loan in 2022, the property you’re buying must have received the BCA Green Mark award in 2019 or later.

According to BCA, its Green Mark rating recognises performance that is above mandatory, regulated standards, including robust levels of energy efficiency, indoor air quality, greenery provision, active mobility considerations, materials and waste management and water efficiency.

To check if a property has been awarded the Green Mark, you may refer to the Super Low Energy Building (SLEB) Smart Hub’s Green Mark buildings directory. If your preferred bank requires a minimum award rating (e.g., Gold or Gold Plus), you may also filter the results based on that.

At the time of writing, HSBC, StanChart, UOB, OCBC and Maybank offer green home loans in Singapore. Here’s a quick overview:

Disclaimer: The promotion and rates in this article are correct at the time of writing, on 2 August 2022. For the latest details, please check in with your preferred bank or speak to a PropertyGuru Finance mortgage advisor.

HSBC’s promotion for green mortgages is the most transparent – you can enjoy 0.05% off Premier 1M SORA-pegged or 2-year fixed rate packages, and a $100 Geneco reward code. As an added perk, you can reprice with the bank for free in future too.

Standard Chartered (or StanChart) offers borrowers with green homes a pricing discount for SORA-pegged home loans. The exact rates are not published, and you will need to enquire to find out more. Our mortgage advisors can help with that.

OCBC’s green loans are called their ‘eco-care loans’ and are not limited to just mortgages – they include renovation and car loans too! For home loans, eligible borrowers can enjoy a promotional SORA loan package. The exact rates are not published either, but our mortgage advisors can help with that.

For UOB’s green loans, there are no preferential rates. However, there are many incentives like shopping vouchers, cash rebates, and renovation subsidies (for solar panels).

Likewise, Maybank does not offer special rates for green homes. Instead, eligible borrowers can receive $200 eCapitaVouchers.

As you can see, some banks’ do not publish the exact preferential rates for their green home loan promotions. In this case, it’s best to speak directly with the bank, or with a PropertyGuru Finance mortgage advisor if you’re considering multiple lenders and want the best deal. The BCA Green Mark Award is easy to verify, and so the application process should be fairly straightforward on the bank’s end.

If you’re searching for a green home, properties listed on PropertyGuru all feature a Green Score of 1 to 5 – denoting average, good and excellent, in terms of sustainability. The rating takes into consideration not just the Green Mark certification by BCA, but also another big aspect that impacts the environment – public transport accessibility.

Green mortgages are quite new in Singapore, so whether or not it takes off is yet to be seen. Hopefully, the introduction of these loans will encourage more homeowners to choose greener homes and adopt sustainable living.

"These loans target buyers who have already purchased or are interested in investing in such green properties," shared Paul Wee, Vice President, PropertyGuru Finance, PropertyGuru Group.

"Another group would be the more environmentally conscious property seekers who are keen on minimising the environmental impact with their life choices, especially around choosing their future home,” he added.