A 5 room HDB renovation package starts at S$7,490 for a move-in scope and runs to S$39,990 for a full resale rebuild with hacking. The spread is wide because it is not one product. It's four, and only one of them fits your flat.
Which one is decided by two questions you can answer in about ten seconds. Most quotation confusion comes from being shown all four before anyone asks you either.
Key Takeaways
- Two questions decide everything: is the flat BTO or resale, and are the floors already down.
- Move-In BTO is S$7,490. Bare Unit with tiles is S$18,990.
- Resale runs S$31,290 with vinyl or S$39,990 with hacking.
- Both toilets are a separate line at S$10,290 for the BTO overlay unless your whole-house package already covers them.
- Every price on this page links to the product page it came from. Open them and check us.
The Two Questions That Decide Your Package
Everything else is detail. Answer these and the package chooses itself.
| Your flat | Floors already down? | The package | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTO | Yes, you took the flooring | Move-In | S$7,490 |
| BTO | No, bare screed | Bare Unit | S$18,990 |
| Resale, tiles sound | Yes, keeping them | Whole House, vinyl | S$31,290 |
| Resale, tiles tired | Coming up | Whole House, hacking | S$39,990 |
Is Your Flat BTO or Resale?
A BTO flat arrives with sound surfaces and modern services behind the walls. Nothing needs removing, so you are paying to add. A resale flat is paying to remove first and add second, and the removal is real work with real debris, real haulage and real days on site.
There is a middle case worth naming, because it catches people out. A flat bought on the open market that is only five or six years old often needs no hacking at all, yet it is still a resale purchase. Price it on the condition of the surfaces, not on the label of the transaction.
That single difference is most of the price gap between the S$7,490 move-in tier and the S$39,990 hacking tier. It is not a difference in how well the job is done.
Are the Floors Already Down?
In a new flat this depends on a box you ticked at your flat selection appointment. Bedroom and living-area flooring is an optional component, so two neighbours on the same landing can collect keys to genuinely different flats.
If your bedrooms have bare screed, you need the Bare Unit scope. If they are already finished, Move-In is the honest answer and you should not be sold the larger tier.
You can settle this without a site visit. Open your flat selection paperwork and look for the flooring line. That one document decides an eleven-thousand-dollar difference, and it is sitting in a folder you already own.
What a 5 Room HDB Renovation Package Includes
Across every tier the constant is the kitchen and the paint. A 5 room HDB renovation package always builds the kitchen run, finishes the walls and ceilings, and carries project management, on-site supervision, material consultation, 3D rendering and technical drawings inside the quoted price rather than as extras billed later.
What changes between tiers is floors and demolition. Nothing else moves much, which is why this decision is simpler than the price spread makes it look.
5 Room BTO Renovation Package Tiers
There are two BTO tiers for a 5-room flat, and the gap between them is almost entirely floor area. Both assume the flat is new, so nothing is being torn out and every dollar goes into adding rather than removing.
Move-In at S$7,490: What You Actually Get
The 5rm Move-In BTO Package, Most Popular tier, is S$7,490. It builds the kitchen and makes the flat liveable, and it does not touch your floors.
Scope: a 10ft run of top and bottom kitchen cabinets with a tier 1 quartz countertop, the concrete base under it, a sink and tap, a storage heater, a hood point with switch, and whole-house painting in Nippon Vinilex. Project management, on-site supervision, material consultation, 3D rendering and technical drawings are in the price, not extras.
Thrown in at no cost: the hood, a two-burner Rinnai hob, the sink, the tap, and a 15-litre storage heater.
Bare Unit at S$18,990: The 800 Square Feet That Changes
The 5rm Bare Unit BTO Package with tiles is S$18,990 and contains everything above plus the thing that costs money: 800 square feet of floor tiling across the living, dining and bedroom areas, skirtings included free.
Eleven and a half thousand dollars separates the two tiers, and it buys floors. That is the whole story. If you want the same package with vinyl instead of tiles, or the Premium finish level, the full range sits on the 5-room BTO packages page.
What the Premium Tier Adds
The Premium Bare Unit tier with tiles is S$19,990. It is a thousand dollars above Most Popular and the difference is finish grade, not extra rooms.
Worth saying plainly: a thousand dollars spread across a whole 5-room flat buys a noticeable step in materials, but it will not transform a scope. If your budget is tight, put that thousand into carpentry length instead.
5 Room Resale Renovation Package Tiers
Stand in an empty resale flat and tap the floor tiles with a knuckle. A hollow, drummy sound means the bed underneath has let go, and no amount of new vinyl laid over it will fix that. A solid sound means the substrate is fine and hacking would be spending for its own sake.
Resale is where the decision gets expensive, and where most owners over-buy. There are two whole-house tiers and the choice between them is structural, not cosmetic.
Vinyl at S$31,290 or Hacking at S$39,990?
The vinyl route is S$31,290. Existing tiles stay, new surfaces go over them, and you keep about eight and a half thousand dollars.
The hacking route is S$39,990. That covers hacking the living, dining and bedroom floor tiles plus the study, balcony and storeroom, the kitchen floor and wall tiles with the cabinet and stove support, and both toilets down to the sanitary fittings, piping and door. Then it relays up to 900 square feet across the living areas, 200 in the kitchen and 250 per toilet, with waterproofing.
Free with the hacking package: two WCs, two bidets, two basin and tap sets, two pump instant heaters with handshowers, the sink, the sink tap, and a Rinnai hood and two-burner hob. Those inclusions matter when you compare quotes, because a rival number that looks lower often has them sitting outside it.
Choose hacking when the existing tiles are drummy, cracked or sitting on failing waterproofing, or when you are moving plumbing. Choose vinyl when the substrate is sound and you want the budget in carpentry. The full list is on the 5-room resale packages page.
Where the 2 Toilet Renovation Package Sits in All This
Every 5-room flat has two bathrooms, and how they are handled depends on which package you are in. The whole-house resale package with hacking already includes both toilets in its scope. The BTO packages do not.
For a BTO flat, both bathrooms are a separate line at S$10,290 for the overlay package. That covers tile overlay to floors and walls in both, up to 250 square feet each, water point extensions, and installation of everything that goes in.
Supplied free with it: two WCs, two bidet sets, two basins with mixer taps, two rainshower columns with mixers, and a 15-litre storage heater.
Why Overlay Is Not the Cheap Option on a New Flat
On a new flat overlay is not a saving. It is the only lawful method for a while.
HDB states that "newly built flats have a 3-year restriction period in place for the removal of wall and floor finishes in bathrooms and toilets". Until that period is over, hacking your bathroom tiles is not a budget decision you get to make.
So a BTO owner choosing the S$10,290 overlay package is not economising. They are buying the compliant scope, and the price happens to be lower.
What These Packages Do Not Include
Reading this section carefully is worth more than reading the price list twice. It's also the section most quotations leave out.
- Kitchen cabinetry is quoted at 10ft in the BTO tiers. A longer run costs more.
- Toilet tile allowances are capped at 250 square feet per bathroom, and tile sizes outside the standard range carry an additional cost.
- Shower kerbs and drop kerbs are not in the two-toilet overlay package.
- Wardrobes, TV consoles and bedroom desk carpentry are not in any of these tiers.
- Package durations and warranty terms are not printed on the product pages. Ask for them in writing before you pay a deposit, and get them into the contract.
The Electrical Points HDB Wants a Permit For
Most of what these packages install needs no permit, but not all of it. HDB publishes tables of electrical work that does not require a permit and adds that those works "are, however, subject to guidelines and conditions".
Where a permit does apply: HDB states that "flats without higher electrical loading will require an HDB permit to install new 15amps power points for air-conditioners or other higher capacity equipment/ appliances". If you are adding aircon points to an older 5-room resale flat, that is your line to check.
A contractor in HDB's Directory of Renovation Contractors submits these on your behalf. An unlicensed one cannot, and the owner stays liable for unauthorised work.
How to Read Our Prices Against Anyone Else's
Compare scope, never headline numbers. Two 5-room quotations are only comparable when both state the same carpentry run in feet, the same tile allowance in square feet, and the same list of what is thrown in.
Three questions expose most gaps. Ask every contractor these, in writing:
- How many feet of kitchen cabinet, top and bottom?
- How many square feet of tiling, and at what tile price per square foot?
- Are haulage, debris clearance and the chemical wash inside the number or outside it?
A quote that omits those is not cheaper. It's unfinished, and the missing items come back as variation orders once the flat is already stripped.
Every figure on this page links to the product page it came from, so you can check the scope line by line rather than take our word for it. If a competitor won't show you the same, that itself is information.
Paying for It
Renovation loans in Singapore are bank products, not an HDB scheme, and the caps and rates move between lenders. We keep a separate comparison of current bank renovation loan rates rather than quoting a single figure here that would age badly.
Whatever you borrow, tie your payment stages to work you can stand in the flat and verify. Money should follow completed stages, never precede them.
A practical test before you sign anything: ask what physical state the flat will be in at each payment point. If the answer is a date rather than a description of the work, that's a schedule, not a milestone, and schedules slip.
When to Start
Engage a contractor two to three months before key collection for a BTO flat, or before completion for a resale purchase. Design, material orders and permit submissions run in parallel during that window, so physical work can begin the week the flat is yours.
Renovation cannot lawfully begin before handover, so the only thing you can pull earlier is the deciding. Our renovation sequence guide sets out the order works actually run in, and our drilling and renovation hours page covers when noisy work is permitted.
Working With Us on a 5-Room Flat
RCS is an HDB Registered Renovation Contractor and a BCA-approved contractor, holding bizSAFE Level 3 certification and PMI membership, working on HDB flats since 2017 under Licence HB-11-5877Z. That licence number is checkable in HDB's directory in under a minute, and you should check it, for us and for anyone else quoting you.
If you know which of the two questions applies to your flat, go straight to the tier: 5-room BTO packages or 5-room resale packages. If you want the cost side broken out rather than the package side, read our 5-room renovation cost guide.
Still Comparing and Not Ready to Commit
Sensible. A 5-room renovation is the second-largest cheque most households write, and nobody should sign it in week one of looking. We'd rather you took another fortnight than regretted the deposit.
If what you need first is someone to check a scope, sequence the project, or tell you whether a quotation in front of you is fair, that is a different conversation from appointing a contractor. You can have it at ai-deal.ai, where homeowners get their renovation questions reviewed without hiring anyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is a 5 room HDB renovation package in 2026?
A move-in BTO package is S$7,490 and a bare unit package with tiles is S$18,990. Resale whole-house packages are S$31,290 with vinyl or S$39,990 with hacking. Both bathrooms are a separate S$10,290 line on BTO scopes. Each figure links to its product page above.
What is the difference between the move-in and bare unit packages?
Floors. The bare unit tier adds 800 square feet of floor tiling across the living, dining and bedroom areas, with skirtings included. Everything else, including the 10ft kitchen run and the whole-house painting, appears in both tiers.
Do the 5-room packages include both toilets?
The whole-house resale package with hacking includes both toilets in its scope. The BTO move-in and bare unit tiers do not, so both bathrooms are quoted separately at S$10,290 for the overlay package. Ask which applies before comparing any two quotations.
Can I hack my bathroom tiles in a new 5-room BTO?
Not for the first three years. HDB applies a three-year restriction to newly built flats covering the removal of wall and floor finishes in bathrooms and toilets. Overlay is the compliant route during that period, which is why the overlay package exists.
Should I choose vinyl or hacking for a 5-room resale flat?
Hacking when the existing tiles are drummy or cracked, when waterproofing is failing, or when plumbing is moving. Vinyl when the substrate is sound and you would rather spend the difference on carpentry. The gap between the two tiers is about eight and a half thousand dollars.
Do I need an HDB permit for the electrical work in these packages?
Some of it. HDB publishes tables of electrical work needing no permit, though those works stay subject to its guidelines. Installing new 15amp power points for air-conditioners in a flat without higher electrical loading does require a permit. A contractor in HDB's directory submits it for you.
Sources
- RCS product pages for every price quoted, linked inline at each figure. Prices verified 9 September 2026.
- HDB renovation guidelines, building works — the three-year restriction on removing bathroom wall and floor finishes.
- HDB renovation guidelines, electrical works — permit rules for 15amp power points and the no-permit tables.
Disclaimer: Prices in this 5 room HDB renovation package guide are starting figures for the tiers named, verified against our product pages on 9 September 2026, and they may change. Your final quotation depends on your flat's condition, carpentry length, tile selection and final scope. Package durations and warranty terms are confirmed in your contract, not on this page. HDB rules are summarised here with their sources linked; confirm current requirements with HDB before committing.
5-Room Projects and Estates We Cover
The tiers above are the same figures wherever your flat sits. These pages apply them to a named project or a specific estate, which is the faster read if yours is on the list.
- Sun Plaza Spring 5-room renovation
- Lakeside View 5-room renovation
- 5-room BTO renovation in Hougang
- 5-room HDB renovation in Tampines
- 5-room HDB renovation in Buangkok
- 5-room HDB renovation in Yishun
If your estate is not listed, the prices on this page still apply. Location changes the logistics of a job, not the tier you belong in.
