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Condo Maintenance Fees Explained: What's Reasonable?

Updated May 2026 | PSF Insight

Maintenance fees are the second largest fixed cost of owning a private condo, after mortgage interest. Yet most buyers spend ten minutes thinking about them and three weeks thinking about kitchen tiles. Understanding how fees are set, what they cover, and how to spot a financially healthy MCST will save you tens of thousands of dollars across a typical hold period.

How Maintenance Fees Are Calculated

Singapore condo maintenance fees are not based on floor area directly. They are based on share value, a number assigned to each unit at TOP, governed by the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA).

• Share value reflects the unit's size band, with size brackets set by the BMSMA
• Larger units carry higher share value, but not perfectly proportional to floor area
• Each share value carries a fixed monthly contribution (e.g., SGD 70 to SGD 90 per share)
• Your monthly fee = your unit's share value x rate per share

For a 1-bed of around 500 sqft, share value is typically 5. For a 2-bed of 800 sqft, share value is 6 to 7. For a 3-bed of 1,200 sqft, share value is 7 to 8. For a penthouse of 2,500 sqft, share value can be 10 or above. The rate per share is set annually at the AGM.

What the Fee Actually Covers

The monthly maintenance fee splits into two pots:

1. Management fund: day-to-day operating costs. Security guards, cleaning, lift servicing, pest control, gardening, pool chemicals, gym equipment maintenance, common area utilities, MCST manager fees, insurance
2. Sinking fund: long-cycle replacement costs. Lift overhauls (every 15 to 20 years), facade repainting (every 8 to 12 years), waterproofing, swimming pool resurfacing, roof replacement, major M&E equipment replacement

By BMSMA rules, a minimum proportion of contributions must go into the sinking fund. The actual split depends on the AGM-approved budget. A healthy split is roughly 60% management, 40% sinking, though this varies with project age and condition.

Typical Ranges by Project Type

From recent Singapore MCST budgets, monthly fees for a typical 1-bed unit fall into these bands:

For a 3-bed unit, multiply roughly by 1.4 to 1.6. For a penthouse, multiply by 1.8 to 2.5. Older projects (above 25 years) sometimes have lower fees because the sinking fund is mature, but watch out for sudden hikes when major works are due.

Why Larger Projects Are Not Always More Expensive

Counterintuitively, very large condos (1,000+ units) often have lower per-unit fees than mid-sized ones. Fixed costs (management office, MCST manager, central security command) spread across more units. The trade-off is amenity over-provisioning: 50m pools, multiple clubhouses, guest suites, and concierges all cost real money to operate. The savings from scale partially offset the higher per-square-foot amenity cost.

Red Flags to Check Before You Buy

Before committing to a resale unit, request the latest MCST documents:

1. Latest AGM minutes. Look for unresolved disputes, recurring complaints about maintenance quality, and committee turnover
2. Audited financial statements. Specifically the sinking fund balance and management fund surplus or deficit
3. Current year budget. Compare this year's fee per share to last year's to spot trends
4. Outstanding arrears. High arrears (above 5% of receivables) signal weak collections and possible coming hikes
5. Pending major works. Lift overhauls, facade repainting, and waterproofing projects can trigger special levies of SGD 2,000 to SGD 20,000 per unit

Sinking Fund Health: The Number That Matters Most

The sinking fund is the project's reserve for big-ticket future repairs. A healthy sinking fund balance, by industry rule of thumb, is at least SGD 800 to SGD 1,500 per unit per year of project age. A 15-year-old 500-unit condo should have at least SGD 6 million to SGD 11 million in the sinking fund. Less than that, and the next major works cycle will trigger a special levy or a sharp fee hike.

Special levies are not theoretical. Recent cases include condos imposing levies of SGD 5,000 to SGD 15,000 per unit to fund waterproofing or facade works. If the sinking fund is light, the buyer of a 5-room unit might inherit a SGD 12,000 surprise bill within a year of moving in.

How Fees Compound Over Time

Maintenance fees almost never go down. They increase 2% to 4% per year on average, sometimes more after a major works cycle. For a 25-year hold, a starting fee of SGD 400 per month grows to roughly SGD 700 per month by year 25 even at modest 2.5% inflation. Across 25 years, total contributions exceed SGD 165,000 for a typical 2-bed unit. That is a meaningful chunk of total ownership cost and should be modelled into your investment math.

Practical Buyer Checklist

• Get current monthly fee for the exact unit you are considering, not the project average
• Pull at least three years of MCST financial summaries
• Compare the sinking fund balance to project age and unit count
• Ask about any planned or pending major works in the next two years
• Check the management committee composition. Long-serving owner-members usually mean better governance
• Verify whether the project uses a competent property manager. A weak MCST manager is the biggest single driver of cost overruns

A well-run MCST with a healthy sinking fund and predictable annual fee growth is a quiet asset that protects your property's resale value. A poorly run MCST is the inverse, and the warning signs are visible if you bother to read the documents before signing the OTP.