Review of Additional Housing Grant
Ministry of National DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Er Dr Lee Bee Wah’s inquiry into whether the Ministry of National Development will review the Additional Housing Grant (AHG) last enhanced in 2009. Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong replied that there are no immediate plans for enhancement, noting the AHG currently provides up to $40,000 to families earning up to $5,000. He highlighted that the Special CPF Housing Grant was recently doubled to $40,000, allowing first-timer families to receive up to $80,000 in total grants for new flats. For resale flats, the Proximity Housing Grant introduced in 2015 helps increase total available grants for eligible first-timer families to $90,000. The Minister emphasized the government’s commitment to public housing affordability and its readiness to provide further support if necessary.
Transcript
9 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will be reviewing the Additional Housing Grant which was last enhanced in 2009.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The Additional Central Provident Fund (CPF) Housing Grant (AHG) Scheme was introduced in March 2006 to help low-income families own their first home. AHG can be used to buy a new flat from the Housing and Development Board (HDB) or a resale flat from the open market.
We have enhanced the AHG twice: first, in August 2007 and then in February 2009, to benefit more households and to increase the subsidy amount. Today, first-timers earning up to $5,000 a month can apply for AHG of up to $40,000. Since the scheme was introduced, $1.6 billion has been given out to more than 83,000 households. There are no immediate plans to further enhance the AHG scheme.
On top of AHG, first-timers buying a new flat can also receive the Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG). We recently enhanced SHG in August 2015 to include households earning up to $8,500, and doubled the maximum grant quantum to $40,000. This means that eligible first-timer families can now receive up to $80,000 in housing grants when they buy a new flat from HDB.
Meanwhile, we also introduced the Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) of $20,000 in August 2015 to help families buying a resale flat live closer to their parents or married child for mutual care and support. Together with AHG and the CPF Housing Grant of $30,000, eligible first-timer families can now receive a total of $90,000 in housing grants when they buy a resale flat.
We will continue to ensure that public housing remains affordable, and are prepared to do more if necessary.