Buying your first HDB flat in Singapore
Owning a HDB flat is practically a rite of passage in every other Singaporean’s life. But not before shuddering at the thought of the hefty price tag.
There are quite a few government grants and subsidies in Singapore – probably more than you know of! – even if you’re getting a resale HDB flat and not a BTO.
We’ve done the math: You can get up to $160,000 in grants when buying a HDB resale flat. That’s probably a quarter of the price of your new home covered.
P.S. The maximum grant amount you can get for BTO flat is $80,000. So even if your resale alternative is pricier, you’ve got more grants to help!
Here’s a quick overview of all of the HDB Resale Grants available:
- Family Grant
- Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) for Families
- Citizen Top-Up (after getting Family Grant)
- Half-Housing Grant/ Non-Citizen Spouse Scheme
- Singles Grant
- Enhanced CPF Housing Grant for (EHG) Singles
- Top-Up Grant (after getting Top-Up Grant)
- Joint Singles Scheme
- Proximity Housing Grant (PHG)
We’ve broken down each grant in our comprehensive HDB resale grant guide below:
Family Grant
Who’s eligible?
Perhaps you’re a newly married couple who just haven’t had any luck with your BTO application, or are eager to escape living with your in-laws. You can apply for the Family Grant for your resale flat if you both:
- Are at least 21 years of age.
- Are first-time applicants (meaning to say, you’ve never received any CPF Housing Grant).
- Don’t already own a home and haven’t disposed of one in the past 30 months.
- Are a married or engaged couple (your marriage must be legit, i.e. registered).
- Have a combined average gross monthly household income of no more than $14,000 as a couple, or $21,000 if you’re applying with extended family.
How much can you get?
If both you and your partner are Singapore Citizens, you get $50,000 for a 2- to 4-room flat, or $40,000 for a 5-room or larger flat.
If one of you is a Singapore Citizen while the other is a Singapore Permanent Resident, you get $40,000 for a 2- to 4-room flat, or $30,000 for a 5-room or larger flat.
Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) for Families
Freshly introduced in September 2019, the EHG is a new grant that replaces the previous Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) for Families, to help families better afford resale HDB flats.
Not only is the income ceiling higher – only families with a monthly income below $5,000 were eligible for the AHG, as compared to the EHG’s $9,000 income ceiling – chances are, you’ll also get a much higher grant amount.
Who’s eligible?
In addition to meeting all the conditions for the Family Grant:
- At least one party in your application must have worked continuously for 12 months prior to applying for your flat, and must still be employed at the time of application.
- Your average monthly household income should not exceed $9,000.
How much can you get?
Applicants are eligible for $5,000 to $80,000, according to their income brackets. Grants are tiered, whereby lower-income earners get a higher grant amount:
Citizen Top-Up
Who’s eligible?
If you’re a Singapore Citizen + Singapore PR couple, you qualify for this grant when the PR spouse obtains Singapore citizenship status, or if you have a child with Singapore citizenship.
Don’t procrastinate, though. You’ll have to submit your application within 6 months of being eligible for the Citizen Top-Up.
How much can you get?
An additional $10,000. This is basically a top-up – as the name of the scheme suggests – since you originally took a Family Grant amount that was $10,000 less.
Half-Housing Grant/ Non-Citizen Spouse Scheme
Who’s eligible?
This one’s for you if you meet the eligibility requirements for the Family Grant but your partner doesn’t (or vice versa). It may be that:
- You’re a first-time applicant married to a spouse who has previously received a housing subsidy i.e. they’re a second-time applicant. If so, you qualify for the Half-Housing Grant.
- You’re a first-time Singapore Citizen applicant buying a resale flat with your spouse who’s neither a Singapore Citizen nor PR. In this case, you qualify for the Non-Citizen Spouse Scheme.
You must also meet all the other requirements for the regular Family Grant.
How much can you get?
Basically half of the Family Grant (or the equivalent of a Single’s Grant), since one of you meets the eligibility requirements while the other doesn’t.
Which means you can get $25,000 if you’re buying a 2- to 4-room flat, or $20,000 for a 5-room or bigger flat.
Lower-income households can also apply for the EHG for Singles (yes, for singles – not family– since one of you isn’t eligible) on top of these grants if the Singaporean applicant is at least 21 years old.
Singles Grant
Who’s eligible?
You guessed it: Singles.
Plus, you should also:
- Be a Singapore Citizen.
- Be aged 35 and above. Any younger, and the only flat you’re probably buying is a flat white.
- Be a first-time applicant, don’t already own a home, and haven’t disposed of one in the past 30 months.
- Have an average gross monthly income of no more than $7,000.
How much can you get?
You’re eligible for a grant amount of $25,000 for a 2- to 4-room flat, or $20,000 for a 5-room or bigger flat.
Read more: A Single’s Guide to Buying an HDB Flat in Singapore (BTO and Resale) »
Enhanced CPF Housing Grant for (EHG) Singles
Who’s eligible?
This grant is based on the same rationale as the EHG for Families, except that it’s for single applicants.
If you’ve been continuously employed for 12 months prior to applying for your flat, and are still employed at the time of application, you’re eligible for the EHG for singles if your average monthly income falls below $4,500.
How much can you get?
Applicants are eligible for $2,500 to $40,000 according to their income brackets:
Top-Up Grant
Who’s eligible?
The 2 most common scenarios that would qualify you for a top-up grant are:
- When you’ve previously bought a resale flat using the Singles Grant, and are getting married to a Singapore Citizen or Singapore PR who has not received any CPF Housing Grant.
- When you’ve previously bought a flat using the Non-Citizen Grant Scheme, and your spouse (or child) obtains Singapore Citizenship or Permanent Residence status.
Your monthly gross household income must not exceed $14,000.
How much can you get?
You’ll basically be getting the Family Grant amount you are now eligible for, minus your previously received grant amount
For instance, if you previously received $25,000 under the Singles Grant, you can receive another $25,000 with a Singapore Citizen spouse – making the total $50,000.
You can also use your top-up grant for your existing flat if you’re making it your matrimonial home – meaning your spouse must be added as a co-owner of your flat.
Joint Singles Scheme
Who’s eligible?
Remember the pact you made with your best friend that if you’re both 40 and unmarried, you’ll just live together with 5 cats?
The government approves.
Under the Joint Singles Scheme, you can basically combine your Singles Grants to jointly buy a resale HDB flat with someone else.
Both of you should individually meet the eligibility requirements for the Singles Grant. As for the income ceiling, your joint average gross monthly household income must not exceed $14,000.
How much can you get?
You get $50,000 ($25,000 x 2) if you’re buying a 2- to 4-room flat, or $40,000 ($20,000 x 2) for buying a 5-room or bigger flat.
Lower-income applicants can also apply for the Additional CPF Housing Grant for (AHG) Singles.
Proximity Housing Grant (PHG)
Who’s eligible?
People who love their family!
In early 2018, grant amounts were increased to encourage more people to live with or close to their families (defined as anywhere within a 4 km distance).
P.S. Use the Distance Enquiry for Proximity Housing Grant e-Service to check whether the HDB resale flat you intend to buy is within 4 km of your parents’/ child’s residential property they live in.
Unlike all of the other grants, the Proximity Housing Grant is not restricted to first-home homebuyers.
How much can you get?
Families can receive a grant of $20,000 when buying a resale flat to live close to their parents or child, or $30,000 when buying a resale flat to live with their extended family.
Singles can receive $10,000 and $15,000 respectively.
HDB Grants
Free Money?!
Well, close enough. The grants are technically free, but you’re not getting cold-hard-cash-money. Instead, the grants will be credited into your CPF Ordinary Account and then deducted to offset the purchase price of your new flat.
The maximum grant amount you can get is:
- For families: $50,000 (Family Grant) + $80,000 (EHG for Families) + $30,000 (PHG) = $160,000
- For singles: $25,000 (Singles Grant) + $40,000 (EHG for Singles) + $15,000 (PHG) = $80,000
Now that you know you can save a good 6-digit sum on buying a house (and also save years of your life otherwise spent waiting for a BTO flat), it’s time to start shopping for your new home!
P.S. Here’s our 5-step guide to buying a HDB flat on your own (no kidding, only 5 steps) – which saves you the agent fees on top of all the grants you’ll be getting!
Hi I use to buy a resales house before with my ex-husband,i was only 19 years old at the time we bought the house. My name is listed as occupiers and not co-owner and he had recieve a grant because he bring my late mom to stay together with us, i did not know what grant is that, I even does not know when he sell of the purchase flat as I don’t recieve any letter from HDB.My question is can i still recieve housing grant if I were to purchase another resale flat with my recent husband?
Hi there!
If you didn’t apply for any grants under your name, you still qualify as a first-time applicant for HDB grants.
If your recent husband has applied for any grants before, it might affect your eligibility as a couple as well.
Hope this helps!
Hi there just wanna ask
I’m 28 years old I’m been full time in the last few years recently I been doing freelance job ( foodpanda ) goin to a year but my cpf acct inside got 40-50k May I ask wad of the chances of getting a 4 roomflat
Hi I’ve been working for the the past 5 years. But my partner has only started for 6 months. I’m still able to receive the AHG right cos one of us has worked for more than 12 months. But the household income to consider does it include my partner or only mine?
Hi,
Would like to check previously I had a house with my ex husband and if I would like to purchase it with my 2nd husband which ( he got his grant before) which after he sold his house he need to paid back $20,000k, would it effect the current grant if purchase under my name
Hi
we are old age couple (nearly 65 years old) without children
we just sold our 4 room flat and intend to buy a 3 room flat in open market
can we get any grant for both might not working anymore …
please reply ASAP
Thanks
Hi Joycelyn,
This depends on whether you’ve taken grants before. You might also want to check if your employment status will affect the loan amount you can take (if you’re planning to take a HDB/ bank loan).
Hope this helps! 🙂
I am currently staying with my sister. Both are singles. We bought the house on yr 2000 (joint tenancy). Previously, I bought the house in 1987 together with my mother. In yr2000, my mother tranferred her name to my sister. That year, both my sister and I became joint tenancy owners. Not sure it was counted as resale flats transaction or not. Can we apply for the singles grant or enhanced joint singles housing grants when we buy another resale flats. We have not taken any housung grant before.