CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND (Top-up grant)

CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND

**

(Top-up grant): **

2.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for National Development if his Ministry will consider giving higher Central Provident Fund top-up grants to married couples who are first-time buyers of HDB flats and who opt to stay with their parents, so as to encourage more Singaporeans to provide care to their parents.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Currently, first-time buyers of an HDB flat can enjoy a CPF housing grant of $30,000 if they buy a flat from the resale market. If they buy a resale flat with their parents, or near to their parents' flat, ie, within the same town or within 2 km, they can qualify for a 2nd-tier grant of $40,000.

Column: 979

The take-up rate for the 2nd-tier grant has been very encouraging in recent years. More than half the housing grant applicants have opted for the higher grant. This shows that the current grant of $40,000 already provides a strong financial incentive for married children to live with or near to their parents, for mutual care and support.

MND's view is that there is no need at this point in time to further differentiate the CPF housing grant between married couples who live with their parents, and those who live near to them.