TDSR / MSR Calculator (Singapore, 2026)

How to use this calculator

Use this page to estimate how much housing repayment your income can support under simplified TDSR and MSR style constraints. It is a planning tool, not a bank approval engine. The most useful way to use it is to find a safer internal borrowing ceiling, not to treat the maximum result as the default target.

1. Enter income conservatively. Use figures that are stable and likely to be recognised for credit assessment.
2. Include all real obligations. Existing debt repayments materially reduce room for housing, even when they feel manageable in daily life.
3. Use a realistic stress rate. A loan that only works at the prettiest offered rate is often a weak plan.
4. Translate the result into decision range. If the calculator says the outer limit is high, that does not mean you should borrow to the edge.

TDSR vs MSR in practical terms

TDSR is the broader debt-service gate. It looks at how much of gross income is already committed across debt obligations. MSR is narrower and, in applicable scenarios, focuses specifically on the housing instalment portion. When both matter, the tighter rule governs the real outcome. That is why a purchase can feel affordable in one frame but still fail once the stricter ratio is applied.

Even then, ratio compliance is only one layer. A household can pass the ratio test and still feel overstretched after accounting for childcare, family support, renovation, travel, or ordinary cost-of-living pressure. So the calculator is most useful when it helps you separate can borrow from should borrow.

Scenario library

• First-time buyer: the mistake is often sizing the target property around the maximum approval instead of a comfortable post-purchase life.
• Upgrade buyer: the ratio may pass, but the move can still be fragile if current-home sale assumptions are optimistic.
• Variable-income household: use a weaker or more stable monthly income estimate, not a peak month.
• Debt-heavy household: small existing obligations can reduce practical loan size more than expected because they compound into principal capacity.

Common mistakes

• Using the top borrowing number as the automatic target purchase range.
• Ignoring what happens if rates stay high for longer than expected.
• Confusing regulatory affordability with personal affordability.
• Leaving out real monthly obligations that still affect resilience after purchase.
• Thinking a ratio pass means the rest of the ownership stack will also be comfortable.

How to use this result with other tools

Once you know the rough borrowing ceiling, the next question is whether the cash and ownership-cost side also works. Pair this result with your cash-needed model, stamp duties, mortgage amortization, and property-affordability stress test. A good property plan is one where the borrowing, upfront funding, and ongoing ownership burden all point in the same direction.

This is also where many households discover that a lower target price is strategically stronger. Reducing purchase ambition modestly can improve buffers, reduce interest drag, and make the overall decision much more resilient.

Build a safety buffer below the regulatory ceiling

The easiest mistake with TDSR and MSR is to treat the computed maximum as a target instead of a boundary. Ratios are useful because they stop obviously unsustainable borrowing, but they are not designed to optimise your quality of life. A household can fit inside the ratio and still feel squeezed once childcare, family support, insurance, renovation drag, transport, or rate resets hit. That is why the strongest use of this calculator is to create a buffer below the limit, not to sit on it.

A practical approach is to identify the binding ceiling here, then step down one level and ask what price range keeps the instalment feeling manageable even if one thing worsens. For some households that means lowering the purchase target until one income can still carry the loan temporarily. For others it means clearing a personal loan, postponing the purchase, or increasing cash on hand so the first two years are not so tight. The smaller the gap between your desired property and your safe range, the more careful you should be about stretching.

This is especially important when a bank approval feels flattering. Approval can create psychological permission to buy near the top. But the better question is not “what can the bank accept?” It is “what borrowing level leaves the household resilient after the keys are collected?” The calculator helps you separate those two answers.

Debt cleanup before application often has more leverage than people expect

Because these limits are driven by monthly repayment capacity, a modest recurring debt can remove a surprisingly large amount of home-loan headroom. That means debt cleanup before a purchase can have a high return, especially when the debt is close to the application window anyway. A car loan, personal loan, or revolving balance may feel manageable in isolation, but it competes directly with the housing instalment in the ratios.

That does not mean every debt should be cleared at all costs. The decision still depends on liquidity and opportunity cost. But if paying off a smaller loan materially improves your borrowing range and reduces monthly pressure at the same time, it is often one of the cleanest pre-purchase moves available. Use this result together with property affordability and cash-needed planning so you do not solve only one side of the property decision while missing the rest.

Use the result as a sequence, not a single approval number

The strongest property decisions usually follow a sequence. Start with this calculator to understand the broad repayment ceiling. Then translate the result into a realistic target price range, not a single maximum number. Then test the cash requirement, transaction friction, and post-purchase life. This sequence matters because households often over-celebrate the borrowing number and under-price the fact that owning the property is only the beginning of the cashflow burden.

If your result looks just good enough, be especially careful. Borderline affordability is where optimism does the most damage. A slightly cheaper home, a longer buffer-building period, or clearing one existing loan can create a much stronger ownership position without meaningfully worsening quality of life. That is a far better trade than buying at the edge and spending years protecting the decision afterward. It also gives you more flexibility if rates, renovation costs, or family obligations shift within the first few years.

FAQ

References

• TDSR & MSR guide
• Mortgage amortization calculator
• Property affordability calculator
• Property financing hub
• MAS
• HDB