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Buyers5 min read

HDB grants explained

The three grants a first-timer family can stack on a resale flat, what each depends on, and why they do not arrive as cash.

A first-timer household buying a resale flat can receive up to three grants at once. They are paid into your CPF Ordinary Account and go towards the price, so they reduce what you must borrow rather than what you must find in cash on the day.

The Enhanced CPF Housing Grant

The largest of the three, and the one that tapers: it is worth up to $120,000 at the lowest incomes and falls to nothing above about $9,000 in gross monthly household income. You must have worked continuously for the 12 months before applying, and the flat's remaining lease must cover the youngest buyer to age 95.

The Family Grant

Up to $80,000 for a 4-room or smaller flat, or $50,000 for a 5-room or larger one. Buying smaller is worth more here, which is worth weighing against the space.

The Proximity Housing Grant

$30,000 if you buy a flat to live with your parents or children, or $20,000 if you buy within 4 km of them. It is the one grant that has nothing to do with income.

Singles buying on the single scheme receive 50% of each amount above.

What they do not do

Grants do not help with the cash you need on the day. They land in CPF, so they cover the down payment that CPF is allowed to cover and reduce the loan. If you are short of cash rather than of total funds, a grant will not fix that.

There is also a claw-back: sell within the minimum occupation period rules or buy a second subsidised flat and a becomes payable.

Amounts change with each Budget. Check HDB: CPF housing grants for resale flats for the current figures before you count on them.