Since 2015, about 11,000 Singapore families have used the government grant to buy resale flats, as they wanted to either live with their parents or married children. The Housing and Development Board (HDB) said on Saturday, Feb. 11 that another 1,000 families will receive the same grant once their resale transaction is completed.
All the families are tapping on Proximity Housing Grant (PHG), which means about a quarter of the 50,000 resale transactions. About 12,000 households were registered for PHG between August 24, 2015 and December 31, 2017.
According to reports, HDB said that an amount of S$211 million in PHG has been provided to 11,000 families.
In terms of PHG distribution, Singapore residents who buy a resale flat to stay with or near their parents and children will receive a S$20,000. Even if any unmarried people buy a resale flat to live with their parents, they can avail a PHG of S$10,000.
There is no eligibility criteria as all Singaporeans are eligible for PHG once, regardless of their income, ownership of private property and their opinion on housing subsidy.
However, there are other measures which help Singaporeans to buy a new HDB flat to live with or near their parents or married children. It includes Married Child Priority Scheme, Multi-Generation Priority Scheme, Senior Priority Scheme and the Three-Generation flats.
According to reports out of 12,000 households, 54 percent of families may not receive any household grants as per the PHG distribution rules.
There are other households who bought flats in estates like Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang, Hougang, Jurong East, Jurong West, Punggol, Sembawang, Sengkang, Woodlands and Yishun.
Out of all the applicants, 93 percent are children, who have bought resale flats to live with or near their parents and remaining are parents who bought the flats to live near or with their children.
The first time applicants, who earn up to $12,000 per month, are also qualified for CPF Housing Grant and first-timers, whose monthly earning is up to $5,000 are also eligible for Additional CPF Housing Grant.
