Permit required
Demolition and hacking need written approval before work starts
The hdb renovation guidelines apply identically whatever the flat size. Get every wall classified from the plan before anyone quotes.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
5-room flats, Singapore
5 room BTO renovation: layout, cost and reclaiming corridor space
A 5 room BTO renovation is reported from around S$40,000 for a new flat, against S$78,600 to S$93,500 for a resale 5-room. Two different cases, kept apart here.
The short answer
A 5 room BTO renovation is reported from around S$40,000 for a new flat. Resale 5-room renovations are reported at S$78,600 to S$93,500, which is a different case entirely. The 5-room BTO flat is around 110 square metres and carries the longest carpentry runs of any type.
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01 PERMIT
Hacking always
needs oneAll demolition and hacking of walls, partial or complete, needs HDB’s prior written approval before anything starts.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
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02 HOURS
Mon to Fri
9am to 5pmRestricted works only. General works such as painting and screed run Monday to Saturday until 6pm.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
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03 DEADLINE
3 months for
a new blockFrom the date the permit is granted. Existing blocks get 1 month.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
Scope
What a 5 room BTO renovation covers
Around 110 square metres, three bedrooms, a larger living area and, in many layouts, a long internal corridor. The same eight work packages, at the largest quantities of any flat type.
- Hacking where HDB permits it, then floor and wall finishes across the largest area.
- Kitchen and usually two bathrooms, with the wet works that follow.
- Carpentry, electrical, plumbing and painting, all at the top end of the range.
The corridor is what makes this flat different. It is floor area you have paid for that contributes nothing until a carpentry plan puts it to work.
Money
How much does it cost to renovate a 5-room BTO flat in Singapore
Reported new-flat fit-outs start from around S$40,000. The number most often quoted alongside it, S$78,600 to S$93,500, describes resale flats.
| Item | Reported range |
|---|---|
| 3-room BTO | S$25k to 50k |
| 4-room BTO | S$51k to 62k |
| 5-room BTO | S$40k to 115k |
Ranges as published by each source, not averaged together. The resale 5-room figure is shown separately because it is a different job.
Sources interiordiary.com.sg 2026-08-31qanvast.com 2026-08-31moneysmart.sg 2026-08-31
Conflating those two is the most common error in 5-room budgeting. A resale flat carries stripping out and reinstatement that a new flat does not.
Check which case a figure describes before you use it. A number lifted from a resale article will make a new-flat budget look comfortable right up until the quotes arrive.
Layout
The layout decisions specific to a 5-room flat
Corridor length is the first decision. Left alone it is circulation. Lined with full-height storage it becomes the most useful square metres in the flat.
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Scope and measure
We walk the flat after key collection, measure every run, and write down what you want changed and what HDB will let you change.
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Permit and drawings
Your contractor files the electronic application. Wall demolition needs the flat’s floor plan submitted with it.
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Hacking and wet works
Demolition, tiling and anything touching the bathroom happen first, inside the restricted-hours window.
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Carpentry and finish
Kitchen and wardrobe carpentry is fabricated to a fixed specification, then installed, then painted.
The second is whether the extra living area justifies a separate utility zone rather than more sofa. In a flat this size that is a genuine choice rather than a compromise.
Both decisions are cheaper to make on paper than in carpentry. Walk the flat with the plan once before anything is measured, and mark what each wall is actually for.
Budget
How much do I need for a 5 room BTO
Start from scope rather than from a headline figure. The published bands describe other people’s flats and other people’s decisions about that corridor.
- Decide the corridor: storage, or circulation left as it is.
- Decide bedroom three: bedroom, study or storage.
- Decide both bathrooms: overlay, or hack to the screed.
Those three answers move a 5-room budget more than any choice of laminate ever will. Make them before you collect quotes, not after.
Then price the scope rather than the flat. A number attached to a described scope survives contact with a contractor; a number attached to a flat type does not.
Structure
What HDB will and will not let you hack here
Structural walls, beams and columns are never removable. In a larger flat there are simply more walls to classify, and more chances to assume wrongly.
Who
Who is allowed to do the work
Only a firm in the Housing & Development Board’s Directory of Renovation Contractors, under the Housing and Development (Renovation Control) Rules 2006.
Permit required
Only a registered contractor may renovate an HDB flat
S$65,000
The same register covers every renovation contractor Singapore homeowners can lawfully engage, and the penalty attaches to the flat owner too.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
The clock
The permit, and the window it opens
The HDB renovation permit is filed by your contractor before anything starts, and the window runs from the day it is granted.
Why the window bites hardest in the largest flat
- Three months, or one Three in a newly completed block, one in an existing one.
- Most work, same clock The largest flat has the least slack inside an identical window.
- Longest lead times The most carpentry to fabricate, all of it after the site measure.
Hours
Permitted working hours the schedule must fit
General renovation works run Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm. Restricted renovation works, meaning demolition, removing finishes and cutting tiles, run Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm only.
Permitted renovation hours, as HDB publishes them
Sources MyNiceHome by HDB 2026-08-31
They are also banned on five named festival eves. With the longest hacking list of any flat type, a 5-room programme loses more to that rule than a smaller one does.
Flooring
The Optional Component Scheme decision for this flat
If you kept the Optional Component Scheme flooring, a quote should not price new floors. If you opted out, removal and making good belong in it as named lines.
No permit needed
OCS pricing is set per BTO project, not fixed across the scheme
S$105,000
Over 110 square metres the removal and making-good cost is the largest of any flat type, which makes opting out the most expensive decision here.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
Get a free quote
Tell us the flat type and when you collect keys. You get a scope discussion and an indicative cost band within one working day.
Get a free quote
or email hello@btorenovation.sg
The missing line
What opting out really costs once making good is counted
- Removal cost rises with the area being removed.
- Making good the cut surfaces is priced separately, every time.
A resale flat renovation carries this cost by definition. A new 5-room flat only carries it if you chose to, which makes it the clearest example of a decision people make without pricing.
The biggest line
Carpentry: run length is the number
Priced per foot run, and this flat has the longest runs on any site. Corridor storage alone can rival a whole bedroom’s worth of carpentry.
- Run length in feet, stated per room and per corridor.
- Carcass material, named rather than described.
Carpentry Singapore-wide is quoted this way, so the comparison travels. In a 5-room flat the difference between two measures is the largest single variable in the whole quote.
Ask for the corridor run to be listed on its own line. It is the run most often bundled into a total, and the one most worth seeing separately.
- Bedrooms and kitchen: the runs every quote includes.
- Corridor and feature walls: the runs that quietly separate two quotes.
Once it is on its own line you can price it as a choice rather than inherit it as an assumption. That is the whole argument for itemised quotes in one sentence.
Kitchen
Kitchen scope in a 5-room flat
The longest run of any flat type, which makes an island or a peninsula a real option rather than a fantasy. It also makes the plumbing decision more expensive to change.
A kitchen renovation in Singapore is priced on run length and wet works. Here both are at their maximum, so settle the layout before anything is ordered.
- Galley against a long wall: the cheapest run, and the least worktop.
- Island or peninsula: more worktop, a plumbing decision and a power point.
An island is the decision that most often gets added late and costs most to add. It needs floor space, a plumbing decision and usually a power point, all before first fix.
Bathrooms
Bathroom scope and the three-year rule
Two bathrooms in most 5-room layouts, and the master is usually the larger of any flat type.
Not allowed
Bathroom floor finishes in a new flat carry a three-year restriction
A toilet renovation in Singapore is a waterproofing decision wearing tiles. Two rooms means two membranes, two sets of falls and two chances to get it wrong.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
Services
Electrical and plumbing: who is allowed to do the work
Electrical work must be done by a worker holding the relevant Energy Market Authority licence, separate from the firm’s own registration.
Permit required
Electrical work requires a worker holding an Energy Market Authority licence
This flat carries the highest point count of any type. Walk the plan room by room and agree every socket before first fix.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
Floors
Flooring: overlay or hack and replace
Overlay is faster and avoids making good, at the cost of raising the floor level. Over 110 square metres the saving is the largest available anywhere in this decision.
- Overlay: quicker, no making good, watch thresholds and door clearances.
- Hack and replace: full freedom, plus removal, disposal and making good at scale.
This is the flat type where the two options diverge most in both money and weeks. Price both rather than assuming the more thorough one is obviously correct.
If you kept the Optional Component Scheme flooring and like it, overlay is often the whole answer. The floor you already own is the cheapest floor available to you.
Paint
Painting, and the two things that change its price
Coverage and preparation, not the brand on the tin. With the most wall area of any flat type, an extra coat here is a substantial line rather than a rounding error.
Ask how many coats and what surface preparation is included. Those two answers explain most of the spread between painting lines that otherwise look identical.
Order
The renovation sequence for this flat, trade by trade
Each stage blocks the next, and this flat has the most of every stage to work through inside an identical permit window.
How the work runs
- Permit filed Before anything starts. The largest flat has the longest hacking list to describe.
- Hacking Restricted works. More walls means more days inside the tightest window of the week.
- Wet works Two bathrooms and a longer kitchen, so the wet trades run longest here.
- First fix The highest point count of any flat type. Settle it before anything closes up.
- Carpentry The longest runs on the site, fabricated off site after the measure.
- Painting and handover Most wall area of any type, then the defects walk room by room.
Build the renovation timeline backwards from the permit expiry rather than forwards from the start date. In a 5-room flat that is the only version of the schedule that survives contact with the site.
Household
How many people can live in a 5 room HDB
Occupancy is set by HDB policy rather than by us, and it is worth checking directly. What matters here is the renovation consequence of the answer.
- Three bedrooms used as bedrooms: minimum storage carpentry, maximum sleeping space.
- One converted to a study or storage: the carpentry measure changes immediately.
Household size is what decides how many bedrooms stay bedrooms, and that decision is what the carpentry is measured against. Make it before the measure, not after.
It is also the decision most likely to change within five years. Built-in storage that can be emptied beats built-in furniture that can only be removed.
Get a free quote
Tell us the flat type and when you collect keys. You get a scope discussion and an indicative cost band within one working day.
Get a free quote
or email hello@btorenovation.sg
Comparing
What a quote for this flat must itemise
Four things, and in the flat with the most carpentry the third one carries most of the weight.
What has to be on the page
- Scope per room All three bedrooms and the corridor listed separately.
- Materials by name The product, not an adjective.
- Carpentry by foot run With the carcass material stated, per run.
- Provisional sums labelled With the rate that applies when they resolve.
A quote produced without a site measure is a guess. Over 110 square metres, a guess is the most expensive document in the process.
Spread
Why two honest quotes for the same flat differ
Because no two firms scope the same job from the same brief. One lines the corridor, another leaves it as circulation.
- Corridor lined with storage: a substantial extra run.
- Corridor left alone: no carpentry line at all.
That single difference can account for most of the gap between two quotes. It is worth remembering when an hdb renovation loan is sized against the higher one.
Money
Payment milestones, and the one worth holding
Tie payments to stages you can walk into and inspect, never to dates.
What each payment should be tied to
- Deposit on signing Tied to the contract, before any work exists.
- After hacking and wet works Both bathrooms complete. Inspect both before releasing anything.
- After carpentry installation Every run fitted and operating, corridor storage included.
- Final balance Held until the defects list is closed across every room.
In the largest flat the sums are largest too, which makes the final balance the most valuable piece of leverage you will hold at any point in the project.
Avoidable
The mistakes that cost the most in a 5-room flat
Treating the corridor as circulation until the carpentry is already built. Budgeting from a resale 5-room figure. Ordering before the site measure.
- Decide the corridor before the measure, not after the wardrobes arrive.
- Check whether the figure you are budgeting from describes a new flat or a resale one.
The last one is browsing reference images for months and never turning any of them into a measured, written scope. Only the scope can be priced, and only a price can be compared.
Method
How every figure on this page is sourced and dated
Every number carries a named publisher and its publication date. Regulatory claims cite HDB directly with the date the page was read.
Where two publishers disagree, both figures appear. The guide to renovating an HDB flat applies the same method across the site.
Honesty
What we do not claim
No licence number, no accreditation, no review, no rating and no photograph captioned as our own completed project. None exists for BTO Renovation SG.
Every interior image here is a generated illustration and says so. The 3 room BTO renovation page holds itself to exactly the same standard.
Next
What happens after you send the form
Tell us the BTO project, that it is a 5-room, when you collect keys and what you decided about the Optional Component Scheme.
You get a reply within one working day with a scope discussion and an indicative cost band. Tell us about the corridor too, because it is the line that moves a 5-room number most.
Questions people ask about 5 room BTO renovation
How much does it cost to renovate a 5-room BTO flat in Singapore?
Reported 5-room BTO fit-outs start from around S$40,000 (InteriorDiary, published 2025-11-07), with resale 5-room renovations reported at S$78,600 to S$93,500 (MoneySmart, published 2026-04-23) - a different case, shown so the two are not confused. These are reported ranges from named publishers, not a quote for your flat.
What does a 5-room BTO renovation include?
The full fit-out: hacking where HDB permits it, floor and wall finishes, kitchen and bathroom works, carpentry, electrical and plumbing works, painting, and the permit paperwork filed before anything starts.
Which walls can I hack in a 5-room flat?
Only non-structural walls, and only with written HDB approval obtained before work starts. Structural walls, beams and columns are never removable, whatever the layout.
What are the permitted renovation working hours?
General works such as plastering, painting and laying floor screed run Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, and never on Sundays or public holidays. Restricted works such as demolition, removing finishes and cutting tiles run Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm only, and are additionally banned on the eves of New Year’s Day, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Hari Raya Puasa and Christmas Day.
How long do I have once the permit is granted?
Three months for a newly completed block and one month for an existing one, counted from the date the permit is granted rather than the date work starts.
Who is allowed to renovate an HDB flat?
Only a firm listed in HDB's Directory of Renovation Contractors, under the Housing and Development (Renovation Control) Rules 2006. Contravening the rules carries a fine of up to S$5,000 on conviction, and the liability attaches to the flat owner too.
Should I opt out of the Optional Component Scheme?
Opting in buys flooring and sanitary fittings at a price set per BTO launch and folded into the flat price. Opting out means paying to remove what is already there before paying to replace it, and making good the cut surfaces is a real cost that comparisons usually omit.
How is carpentry priced?
Per foot run, which is why run length rather than the headline rate drives the number. The carcass material behind the finish is the variable buyers rarely see quoted, and it is what decides how the carpentry looks in ten years.
Should I overlay the floor or hack and replace it?
Overlay is faster and avoids making good, but it raises the floor level and is not always possible at doorways and wet areas. Hacking and replacing costs more in both time and money and belongs in the quote as a named line rather than an assumption.
What must a quote for this flat itemise?
Scope per room, materials by name, carpentry by foot run with the carcass material stated, and any provisional sums called out as provisional. A quote produced without a site measure is a guess and is not comparable to one that has been measured.
Which payment should I hold until the end?
The final balance. It is the only leverage you have once the work is substantially done and the defects list is being argued over.
Do you publish package prices?
No. This site publishes sourced, dated cost ranges as editorial content. A price for your flat only comes from a scope discussion after you send the form.
How much of a 5 room flat is circulation?
More than any other flat type, which is exactly why the corridor is the highest-leverage change available. Absorbing it converts space you walk through into space you use, and it is the reason 5 room totals reach six figures when they do.
Where does a 5 room budget go furthest?
The corridor, where the structure allows it, because it makes the flat function as a larger one rather than merely look renovated. After that, storage concentrated on fewer walls rather than distributed into every room.
Sources
- BTO Renovation Singapore: Complete Cost, Timeline
- HDB Renovation Cost & Loan Guide Singapore
- $115k Renovation, 5-Room BTO, Home Tour Ep 26
- Important Information on Renovations
- Directory of Renovation Contractors (DRC)
- Renovation Guidelines for Building Works
- Renovation Guidelines for Electrical Works
- Permitted timings for HDB renovation works
Related on this site
Checked against primary sources · updated 2026-09-01