11,000 households received grants to buy resale flats near their parents or children

SINGAPORE – Some 11,000 households have purchased resale flats near their parents or married children with the help of the Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) since it was introduced in 2015.

In total, about S$211 million has been disbursed under the PHG, said the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in a media release on Sunday (Feb 11). Another 1,000 families will receive the grant once their resale transactions are completed.

Approximately 12,000 families have applied for the PHG as of Dec 31, 2017, and they represented one in four of the 50,000 resale applications registered between Aug 24, 2015, and Dec 31 last year.

Among the families that applied for the grant were: young couples buying their first home, married couples who bought their first flat far from their parents and now wish to move closer, and parents who wish to monetise their existing flat and move to a resale flat to live with or near their child.

Of these households, 54 per cent of them would not have qualified for any housing grants prior to the introduction of PHG.

Ninety-three per cent of the applicants were those who bought resale flats to live closer to, or with their parents for mutual care and support. The remaining 7 per cent were Singaporeans who bought resale flats to live near to, or with their children.

Sixteen per cent of the households who applied for the PHG also opted to live in the same block or flat, said the HDB.

The PHG was introduced in 2015 to help Singaporeans buy a resale flat with or near their parents or children. Singaporean parents or married children who fit the criteria will receive a grant of S$20,000, while eligible singles will get a S$10,000 grant if they buy a resale flat to live with their parents.