HDB Housing Grants: EHG, CPF Housing Grant and PHG

Eligible first-timer families buying a resale flat can draw on three separate grants worth up to $230,000 in total: up to $120,000 from the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG), up to $80,000 from the CPF Housing Grant, and up to $30,000 from the Proximity Housing Grant (PHG).

The EHG ceiling rose to $120,000 for families and $60,000 for singles on 20 August 2024, an increase of up to $40,000 and $20,000 respectively. Stacking the full $230,000 requires clearing every condition at once, which few households do.

Three grants, three different tests

Grant	Maximum (families)	Applies to	Tested on
Enhanced CPF Housing Grant	$120,000	New and resale flats	Household income, employment, remaining lease
CPF Housing Grant	$80,000	Resale flats only	First-timer status, flat size
Proximity Housing Grant	$30,000	Resale flats only	Distance to parents or child

The three are assessed independently, so a household can qualify for one and miss another. A high-income first-timer family may receive the CPF Housing Grant and the PHG while receiving no EHG at all.

Work out which grants you qualify for before setting a budget. Our HDB affordability calculator takes the grant amount as an input rather than assuming it.

The EHG is income-tested and employment-tested

The EHG scales with average household monthly income: lower income receives a larger grant, up to the $120,000 ceiling for families and $60,000 for singles.

Income ceilings work as follows:

• $9,000 a month where both applicants are first-timers.
• $4,500 a month where one applicant is a second-timer.
• $4,500 a month for a single applicant, rising to $9,000 when buying a resale flat with parents.

Two further conditions catch applicants out. The EHG requires continuous employment for the 12 months before application, which affects anyone who has recently changed jobs or taken a break. And the full grant is paid only where the flat's remaining lease covers the youngest buyer, and their spouse, to age 95. A shorter lease gives a prorated grant.

That lease condition points the same way as the financing rules. An older flat reduces the grant, reduces permitted CPF use and can reduce the loan, so the apparent discount on an older lease is smaller than the price gap suggests.

The CPF Housing Grant is tiered by flat size

First-timer families buying a resale flat receive $80,000 for a 4-room or smaller flat, and $50,000 for a 5-room or larger flat. Those amounts have applied to resale applications submitted from 14 February 2023, 3.30pm.

Resale flat size	CPF Housing Grant (first-timer families)
4-room or smaller	$80,000
5-room or larger	$50,000

The $30,000 step between the two tiers is worth weighing against the price gap in the town you are looking at. Where a 5-room commands much more than a 4-room, the grant difference widens the cost gap between the two sizes.

Singles buying a resale flat receive grants under the Single Singapore Citizen Scheme at their own rates. Check the current amount on HDB's CPF Housing Grant for singles page before budgeting, since the tiers differ from the family amounts above.

The PHG pays for distance, measured at 4km

Household	Living with parents or child	Living near, within 4km
Married couples and families	$30,000	$20,000
Single citizens	$15,000	$10,000

The PHG applies to resale purchases. Singles buying a flat near their parents face a flat-type restriction that does not apply to the other categories, so confirm the eligible flat sizes before shortlisting.

The 4km measurement is the operative detail. A block that feels close by road can fall outside the radius, and the difference between the two columns is $10,000 for families. Check the specific block, not the town.

Grants go into CPF and come back out at sale

CPF Housing Grants are credited to your CPF Ordinary Account and applied to the flat purchase. No part of a grant reaches your bank account.

Because the grant becomes part of the CPF used for the property, it is refundable with accrued interest when you sell, in the same way as your own OA savings. A $120,000 EHG held for 20 years at the 2.5% OA floor rate grows to roughly $197,000 repayable.

That does not make the grant less valuable. It reduces the loan you need and the interest you pay a bank across the whole tenure. It does mean the grant should not be counted as future cash. Our CPF accrued interest guide works through what returns to CPF on a sale and where it lands after age 55.

The same date lowered the HDB loan ceiling

The 20 August 2024 EHG increase arrived alongside a tightening. From 12.00am that day, the loan-to-value limit for HDB housing loans fell from 80% to 75%, raising the downpayment on an HDB loan from 20% to 25% of the purchase price.

For a lower-income first-timer household, the larger EHG can more than offset the extra 5%. For a household near the income ceiling receiving little or no EHG, the LTV change is a straight increase in the money needed at completion.

Model both together rather than separately. Our HDB loan versus bank loan comparison sets out the cash difference between the two routes, and the HDB resale fees guide covers the duty and legal costs that sit on top.

First-timer status is the gate on all three

Every amount above is a first-timer amount. A household that has previously taken a housing subsidy, whether a new flat from HDB or an earlier CPF Housing Grant, is assessed as a second-timer and receives less or nothing.

The EHG is the only one of the three that reaches a household where one applicant is a second-timer, and that route carries the lower $4,500 income ceiling. Second-timer households buying a second subsidised flat also face a resale levy, which is deducted from the sale proceeds of the first flat or paid in cash.

Confirm your status with HDB before budgeting on any figure in this guide. A household that believes it is a first-timer because it never owned a flat can still be assessed otherwise if a grant was received earlier.

Checks before you commit to a price

• Confirm your average household monthly income against the ceiling that applies to your applicant mix, not the headline $9,000.
• Check that both applicants meet the 12-month continuous employment condition.
• Ask whether the specific flat's remaining lease covers the youngest buyer and spouse to age 95, and get the prorated EHG figure if it does not.
• Measure the distance from the specific block to your parents' or child's address before assuming the higher PHG tier.
• Budget on the grant reducing your loan, not on it being available as cash.

Grant eligibility is settled by your household's income, employment and the flat's lease, so the amount is knowable before you negotiate. Get the figure from HDB in writing through your HDB Flat Eligibility letter, then set your offer. Our HFE letter guide covers the waiting time and the nine-month validity.

Sources: HDB, measures to cool the HDB resale market and provide more support for first-time home buyers, 19 August 2024, HDB, further support for first-time homebuyers, 14 February 2023, CPF Board, a guide to the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant and Proximity Grant, HDB, Enhanced CPF Housing Grant for families, HDB, Proximity Housing Grant for families buying resale flats, CPF Board, CPF refund when selling or transferring property.