It’s no secret that buying a property in Singapore is expensive. Fortunately, there are plenty of housing grants offered by the Government to help HDB flat buyers finance their homes. One of these grants is HDB’s Proximity Housing Grant (PHG), a grant that helps resale flat buyers to make it more affordable to live with or closer to their families.
If this sounds like you, this article will explain how the grant can help you and the qualifications needed to obtain this grant.
Let’s begin…
What is The Proximity Housing Grant?
First introduced in 2015, the Proximity Housing Grant, or PHG, is an HDB grant that helps Singaporean HDB resale flat buyers who want to live with/closer to their parents/children.
Living with or close to your parents/in-laws/children can be extremely beneficial; your parents can watch over the kids when you’re away at work or if you have an errand to run; while parents who live closer to their children and grandchildren can spend more quality time together.
Eligibility Criteria for PHG
| Eligibility Criteria | Description |
| Type of Property | Resale HDB flat |
| Citizenship | Singaporean citizen if you’re a single applicant. For families, the other applicant must comprise of a Singapore citizen or Singapore permanent resident |
| Age of Applicant | At least 21 years old if you’re applying as a family, 35 years old if you’re applying as singles |
| Family Nucleus | Families (spouse, children, fiance/fiancee, children under your legal custody), singles under one of the single schemes |
| Income Ceiling | No income ceiling |
| Flat Type | 2-room to 5-room |
| Number of Applications | Only once |
| Remaining Lease of Flat | 20 years or more |
Who’s Eligible for PHG?
As mentioned, PHG is available for Singaporean singles or married couples/families who are looking to buy a resale flat to live with, or near their parents or children.
According to HDB, “near” means living within a 4km radius to your children or parents, which means that they don’t necessarily need to live in the same area/township as you.
Also, note that your parents/children do not need to live in an HDB flat, so you’re still eligible for PHG even if they live in a private property.
1. Type of Property
PHG is only granted to HDB resale flat buyers only. BTO buyers are not eligible for this grant.
2. Citizenship
Applicants must be Singaporeans. If you’re applying as a family/couple, the family nucleus must have at least a Singapore citizen or a Singapore permanent resident.
3. Age of Applicant
If you are applying as a family, the applicants must be at least 21 years old, or at least 35 years old if you are applying as a single under the Single Singapore Citizen Scheme, Joint Singles Scheme, or Public Scheme.
4. Family nucleus
Families (spouse, children, fiance/fiancee, children under your legal custody), singles under one of the single schemes.
5. Income Ceiling
Unlike other grants, the PHG doesn’t have an income cap, so you’ll be eligible for the full grant amount as long as you meet the requirements of the PHG.
6. Flat Type and Lease
Remember, PHG only applies if you’re buying a 2-room to 5-room resale HDB flat.
For singles living near parents, the flat type must be a 2 to 5-room flat. There’s no flat restriction for singles buying to live with parents.
Remember, you’re qualified for the PHG even if your parents/children live in a private property.
7. Number of applications
You can only receive the PHG once. You won’t be entitled to the PHG if you had received it before.
8. Remaining Lease of Flat
Flats involved in the application will need to have a remaining lease of at least 20 years.
How Much Can You Get From PHG?
Under PHG, family (married/engaged couples) home buyers will receive a PHG of $30,000 if they live with their parents/children and $20,000 if they live near their parents/children.
Singles, meanwhile, will receive a PHG of $15,000 if they live in the same resale home as their parents/children and $10,000 if they buy a resale HDB flat near their parents/children.
Here’s a simplified table for better visualisation:
Family
$30,000
$20,000
Singles
$15,000
$10,000
HDB’s Proximity Housing Grant: More Than a Subsidy
The most obvious benefit of the PHG is that you’ll be able to fork out a lower amount to buy an HDB resale flat. Resale flats tend to be more expensive than BTO flats, and a resale flat becomes more affordable with the PHG.
So this means your options for HDB housing will become much wider too. This is assuming your budget is relatively tight and you’ve been restricting your options only to BTO flats, which launch only every quarter and can have quite high quite competition for popular estates.
The PHG can be used together with other housing grants to lower the price of your resale flat even further. This includes the following grants:
- CPF Housing Grant for Family
- CPF Housing Grant for Singles
- Enhanced CPF Housing Grant
With the PHG combined with any of these grants, you could end up saving a decent amount of money for your flat purchase.
These savings could go toward funding your children’s education, moving your renovation plans forward, or beginning an investment plan.
How Do I Check For Proximity Distance?
You may check using HDB’s Distance Enquiry service to find out the eligibility of the resale flat from your parents’/family’s home.
However, since the tool doesn’t show which flats are for sale, you may search for a unit on sale on PropertyGuru and input the flat’s details into the HDB tool. The information you’ll need:
- Postal code of your intended purchase, OR
- Block number and street name of your intended purchase
And you’re good to go!
Do I Need to Return the PHG Grant When I Sell My Flat?
Yes, this applies to all CPF housing grants. You will need to return the grants back to your CPF accounts upon selling your flat.
As most (if not all) of the funds will be returned back to your CPF Ordinary Account (OA), you may use this to finance your next home purchase.
Note: A maximum of $60,000 from the grants that you’ve taken up (including PHG, AHG, EHG and/or SHG) will be returned to your CPF OA. Any excess will be distributed evenly to your CPF Special Account (SA) and Medisave account.
Need help financing your latest property purchase? Let the mortgage experts at PropertyGuru Finance help you find the best deals.