Budget 2025: Eligible families in rental flats to get higher grant of $75,000 for BTO purchase

SINGAPORE – Families with children living in rental flats will get a higher grant when they buy a two-room flexi or three-room Build-To-Order (BTO) flat, while eligible families who are first-time home buyers will be allowed to purchase shorter-lease flats.

These measures are meant to help lower-income and vulnerable families that face more challenges, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said

in his Budget speech

on Feb 18.

Under the enhanced Fresh Start Housing Scheme, eligible families who are second-time home buyers will get $75,000 in grants to buy two-room flexi or three-room Standard flats on a shorter lease. This is up from the current grant of $50,000.

Standard flats were offered in towns such as Woodlands, Yishun, Bukit Batok and Sengkang in recent launches. They form the bulk of housing supply and come with a five-year minimum occupation period (MOP), without other restrictions upon resale.

Plus and Prime flats, which are in more attractive locations, come with a subsidy clawback clause and a 10-year MOP.

The Fresh Start Housing Scheme was launched in 2016 to help families with at least one child below age 18 and that had bought a subsidised Housing Board flat previously.

To make the homes more affordable, two-room flexi and three-room flats are offered with leases of 45 to 65 years in five-year increments, as long as the lease can cover the youngest applicant up to age 95.

PM Wong said the scheme will also be extended to first-time home-buying families with children who are living in public rental flats to allow them to buy a two-room flexi or three-room Standard flat on a shorter lease.

He said these first-timer families typically face more significant challenges in life, such as coping with medical issues in the family or raising children as a single parent.

“Hence, they may have difficulties buying a flat with a full 99-year lease, even as first-timers,” the Prime Minister noted.

First-timer families will not be eligible for the $75,000 grant, but can tap the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant, which disburses up to $120,000, The Straits Times understands.

Flats sold under the Fresh Start Housing Scheme have a 20-year MOP to ensure a stable home for the families and children.

PM Wong said the authorities will do more to support efforts by lower-income and vulnerable families to “achieve stability, self-reliance and mobility”.

More information on the enhanced Fresh Start Housing Scheme will be made public during the debate on the Ministry of National Development’s budget.

Cafe manager Nur Suhaila, who lives in a two-room rental flat in Telok Blangah, is unsure if she qualifies for the scheme, but said the $75,000 grant could go a long way in helping her family of seven afford a home.

“I have been wanting to buy my own home since 10 years ago, but I have a big family and our savings tend to go towards our five kids,” said the 42-year-old, whose children are between 12 and 24 years old.

She added that fights among other residents constantly broke out at the rental block in Henderson, where her family previously lived, and that she wants to provide a better environment for her children.

“The situation is better in Telok Blangah, but I want to own my own place, instead of paying rent monthly,” said Ms Suhaila, who has been living in rental flats since 2012.

On Feb 18, PM Wong said

the ComLink+ scheme,

which was rolled out in 2024, is another initiative that provides vulnerable families with more customised support.

Under the initiative, family coaches and volunteers work with low-income families with children living in HDB rental flats to set targets for nearer- and longer-term goals, such as getting a job and saving for a home.

As the families work towards their home ownership and employment goals, they will receive Central Provident Fund and cash payouts capped at a total of $30,000.

Read next -

MediSave top-up, CDC vouchers, LifeSG Credits: Budget 2025 boost for families