Nexus Mortgage SG  ·  1 June 2026  ·  9-minute read

Commercial Property Loan Singapore: Eligibility, Documents & How to Qualify (2026)

By Dan Ler, Mortgage Advisor

What Counts as Commercial & Industrial Property

"Commercial property" covers anything zoned for business rather than living in. That means offices, retail units, shophouses (commercial or mixed-use), F&B and medical suites, and industrial property: B1 (light industrial), B2 (heavy industrial), warehouses and JTC/factory units. Each behaves a little differently for financing, but they share one trait. They fall outside the MAS residential lending framework.

That one fact changes everything downstream. No residential LTV caps. No ABSD. No CPF. No MSR. The loan is underwritten more like a business facility, on the strength of the borrower, the property and the deal. For owner-occupiers buying their own business premises, that usually means more leverage at sharper rates than residential. For investors, it means tighter LTV and a bigger cash cheque.

2026 Rates: The Bank-to-Bank Gap

The same commercial purchase can be priced very differently by two banks. This is where a broker earns their keep.

Here is the thing most buyers miss about commercial financing. The rate gap between banks is far wider than on a home loan. Residential packages cluster within a few basis points of each other. Commercial pricing does not. It swings on quantum, property type, the borrower's financials and the bank's appetite that quarter.

Here is a real illustration from 2026 (banks shown by initial only, figures indicative):

That ~0.72-percentage-point gap is not a rounding error. On a S$2,000,000 loan it is roughly S$14,400 of extra interest in year one alone, before you count the bank's processing fee. Multiply that across a 2-year promotional period and the wrong bank quietly costs a five-figure sum for an identical property. The banks do not advertise this spread. You only see it when someone puts the offers side by side.

LTV, Downpayment and the No-CPF Reality

Because commercial property sits outside the residential LTV caps, owner-occupiers can borrow more. The catch is that the cash cost is higher, because CPF cannot be touched.

The CPF point is the one that catches buyers out. You cannot use CPF for the purchase, the downpayment, or the monthly instalments on a commercial property. So even though the LTV is higher, the cash you need up front is larger than a residential deal at the same price. The whole non-loan portion, plus stamp duty and any GST, has to be funded in cash. Budget for that before you commit.

There is an upside to the same rule. A fully-paid commercial property is an unusually clean asset to borrow against later, because there is no CPF accrued-interest deduction eating into your cash-out. We cover that in the commercial section of our cash-out refinance guide and on the equity / cash-out page.

Loan Tenure and the Lease Cap

Commercial loan tenures typically run up to 25–30 years, but two things shorten them in practice:

• Where a company borrows, banks often cap the tenure tighter than they would for an individual.
• The remaining lease matters. Many industrial units are 30- or 60-year leasehold (JTC and similar), and the loan tenure is capped against whatever lease is left. A unit with 25 years remaining will not get a 30-year loan. That feeds straight into the monthly instalment and the cash-flow case.

Freehold and 99-year commercial or shophouse assets give the most tenure flexibility. Short-lease industrial gives the least. Always check the remaining lease before you model the repayments.

Eligibility: Individual vs Company (and the TDSR Difference)

For a company borrower the bank underwrites on financial statements, cashflow and a director's guarantee, not personal TDSR.

Who borrows changes the whole assessment. It is one of the biggest things you can move in commercial financing.

Buying in personal name

An individual is assessed under the 55% Total Debt Servicing Ratio and stress-tested like any property loan. Your personal income and existing debts cap the loan, exactly as they would on a home loan. It is simple, but it is limited by what you personally can carry.

Related: if you run your own business and buy in personal name, see how self-employed TDSR (the 30% income haircut) shrinks your borrowing power.

Buying through a company

An operating company with a genuine core trading business is generally not assessed under personal TDSR. The bank underwrites on the company's financial statements, cashflow and bank balances, plus a personal guarantee from a director. This is how a business borrows well beyond what its directors could carry under personal TDSR. The usual conditions:

• The company is incorporated for at least 12–24 months (varies by bank).
• There is at least 30% Singaporean / PR shareholding.
• Two years of financial statements are available for review.
• A director gives a personal guarantee on the facility.

One caveat. A pure investment-holding company with no real operations is often still assessed against the guarantor's TDSR. You do not get the operating-company exemption just by buying through any Pte Ltd. The structure has to match the substance.

Stamp Duty, ABSD and GST

Three things to budget for, all in cash, since CPF is off the table:

• Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD) applies on a tiered scale, 1%–5% for non-residential property (as of 2024). Confirm the current tiers at IRAS for your price band.
• There is no Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty on commercial or industrial property, even on a second or subsequent purchase. This is a big reason investors pivot from residential to commercial.
• If the seller is GST-registered, 9% GST applies on the purchase price (commercial only; residential is GST-exempt). A GST-registered buyer can usually claim that 9% back as input tax after completion, but you have to fund it up front. So it is a real cash-flow line even when you get it back.

Why Your Profile and Intent Drive the Rate

On a home loan, the package is more or less the package. On a commercial loan, the borrower is half the price. Banks underwrite these facilities on risk, and they price that risk one case at a time. The things that move your rate and your approved LTV:

• Intent. Owner-occupied premises get the best LTV and often the best rate. Tenanted or investment units are priced more conservatively.
• Financial statements and cashflow. For a company, two years of healthy financials and visible cashflow open the sharpest tiers.
• Bank balances and relationship. Deposits and an existing banking relationship genuinely move pricing, sometimes more than the headline board rate does.
• Loan quantum. Larger loans unlock better tiers. The ~1.08% floor is generally a large-quantum rate.
• Property type and lease. A freehold CBD shophouse and a 30-year-lease B2 factory are not the same risk, and they will not be priced the same.

How a Broker Lowers the Rate (and Waives Fees)

Commercial pricing is negotiated and the bank-to-bank spread is wide, so this is the segment where an independent broker adds the most value you can actually measure. In practice that comes down to a few things.

• Putting the same deal in front of several lenders surfaces the real floor. The difference between a ~1.08% and a ~1.8% offer is the whole reason a broker exists on a commercial deal.
• Banks charge processing or facility fees on commercial loans. These are often negotiable or waivable, and a broker who brings volume can get them reduced or removed.
• Presenting the financials, the cashflow and the deal in the way each bank's credit team wants to see it can be the difference between an approval and a decline, and between a standard tier and a relationship-priced one.
• Different banks favour different property types, lease profiles and industries at different times. Knowing who is hungry for your deal this quarter is worth more than any board rate.

What the gap is worth

The borrower pays Nexus nothing. Banks pay the brokerage on disbursement, so the rate saving and any fee waiver are a clean gain. On a commercial-sized loan, that is the most valuable half-hour of phone calls in the whole purchase.

Before You Apply

1. Fix your intent first. Own-use or investment? It changes your LTV, your rate tier and your cash requirement, so be clear before you approach a bank.
2. Decide on personal name versus company. If you have a real operating business, borrowing through it can get you past personal TDSR, but only if the company has the financials and substance to back it. Model both.
3. Size the cash, not just the loan. No CPF means the downpayment, BSD and any GST are all cash. Confirm the total cash outlay before you commit to an OTP.
4. Check the remaining lease. On industrial units especially, the lease caps your tenure and reshapes the monthly figure.
5. Compare the full market before you sign. The gap between the cheapest and the standard offer on a commercial loan is large, so have it benchmarked across banks first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Rates range widely by profile and quantum. The lowest fixed packages have been seen from around 1.08% p.a. for strong borrowers on larger loans (often above S$1–2M), while a comparable request elsewhere can be quoted near 1.8% fixed. Floating SORA-pegged packages and smaller cases often sit higher. Commercial pricing changes frequently and is negotiated case by case.

Owner-occupied premises can be financed up to about 80–90% of valuation or price (whichever is lower); tenanted or investment units are typically 60–75%. It is not bound by the MAS residential LTV caps.

No. CPF cannot be used for the purchase, the downpayment, or the monthly repayments. The entire non-loan portion must be funded in cash.

An individual buying in personal name is assessed under the 55% TDSR. An operating company with a core trading business is generally not — the bank underwrites on company financials, cashflow and a director's personal guarantee. A pure investment-holding company is often still assessed against the guarantor's TDSR.

There is no ABSD on commercial or industrial property. Buyer's Stamp Duty still applies (tiered, 1–5% for non-residential as of 2024). If the seller is GST-registered, 9% GST applies on the price; a GST-registered buyer can usually claim it back as input tax.

For a company: usually incorporated 12–24 months, at least 30% Singaporean/PR shareholding, two years of financial statements, and a director's personal guarantee. Individuals are assessed on income and the 55% TDSR. In both cases, profile, intent, bank balances and cashflow drive the rate and approved LTV.

About the author — Dan Ler has advised on Singapore home loans since 2017 at Nexus Mortgage SG, an independent brokerage comparing 16+ MAS-regulated lenders across residential, commercial and industrial financing. Banks pay Nexus on disbursement, so there is no cost to the borrower.

Nexus Mortgage SG is an independent Singapore mortgage advisory. This article is general information, not financial advice. Commercial and industrial property financing is underwritten case by case by each bank; rates, LTV, tenure, stamp-duty tiers and GST treatment are illustrative and reflect indicative 2026 market positions as of 1 June 2026, and can change without notice. The bank rates shown (by initial) are anonymised, indicative and quantum/profile-dependent — not a general offer. Always confirm your specific terms with an independent mortgage advisor and the bank. Stamp-duty and GST figures should be verified at IRAS. Reference: MAS TDSR — who it applies to.