Do you have to pay back the CPF Housing Grant?
I thought my bonus put us over the income ceiling, and my mother told me there's a clawback.
I’m still looking for a flat. When I first worked out whether we could get a grant, I counted my bonus, and that put us over the $16,000 income ceiling.
Then I applied for the HFE letter and realised we weren’t over. So I went to check HDB’s income guidelines, and bonuses don’t count. We qualify for the CPF Housing Grant, $80k for a 4-room. Our combined income was over $9k, so no Enhanced grant.
The grant actually helps a lot. It cuts the cash I need, and I just started working, so I don’t have much cash or CPF in my OA. I’ll be taking an HDB loan, and I have enough income to pay the instalment.
Does your bonus count?
Not for the HFE letter. HDB averages your gross monthly income over the months you worked in a 12-month window ending 2 months before the month you apply, so an application in October 2026 looks at September 2025 to August 2026. It includes your own CPF contribution but not your employer’s, and it leaves out bonuses and AWS (HDB’s income guidelines).
For couples and families, the ceiling for the CPF Housing Grant on a resale flat and for an HDB loan is $16,000. It went up from $14,000 at this year’s National Day Rally (gov.sg). The Enhanced CPF Housing Grant still stops at $9,000 (CPF). If you’re close to either, work it out without your bonus first. Don’t anyhow assume you can’t get it.
The Proximity Housing Grant has no income ceiling. For couples and families it’s $30,000 to live with your parents, or $20,000 to live within 4 km of them (HDB). If they move in with you, they go on your HFE application and their income counts towards the ceilings above.
Where does the grant go?
Into your CPF Ordinary Account. For couples and families buying resale, it’s up to $80,000 for a 2- to 4-room flat and $50,000 for a 5-room or bigger, and it pays part of the price or lowers the loan you need (HDB’s grants guide). COV has to be cash, so the grant can’t pay for that (CPF).
With an HDB loan, it goes into the down payment. HDB lends up to 75% of the price or the valuation, whichever is lower, and only as much as keeps your instalment within 30% of your income. The other 25% can come from CPF, and the grant is in your CPF (CPF compares HDB and bank loans).
Made-up numbers: a $600,000 4-room, valued at $600,000.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| HDB loan (75%) | $450,000 |
| Down payment (25%) | $150,000 |
| Paid by the grant | $80,000 |
| Left to pay from your OA or cash | $70,000 |
Up to $5,000 of that has to be cash anyway, because the option fee and exercise fee can’t be paid with CPF (CPF). COV, stamp duty and the rest come on top. This post has the full list.
Do you have to pay it back?
My mother told me there’s clawback, and I believed her. Actually there isn’t. When you sell the flat, the grant and the interest it would have earned go back into your own CPF account, out of the sale money (CPF). If you got more than $30,000 in grants, part of it may go to your Special or Retirement Account and MediSave instead of your OA.
So it stays your money, but you won’t get it as cash when you sell.
The closest thing to a clawback is the resale levy. A resale flat bought with the grant counts as a subsidised flat, so if you later buy a flat from HDB or a new EC from a developer, you pay a levy, $40,000 if your first flat was a 4-room (HDB). Buying another resale flat or private property later has no levy.