HDB is committed to supporting Singaporeans in achieving home ownership, as well as meeting their retirement needs. At the Ministry of National Development’s Committee of Supply Debate on 5 March 2025, we announced housing measures that offer more help for home buyers and public rental families with young children to purchase an HDB flat, and boost retirement income for seniors right-sizing their homes.

More flats to help home buyers secure their first home

To ensure a strong supply of flats to meet demand, HDB will be launching more than 50,000 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats from 2025 to 2027. In total, HDB will launch about 130,000 flats from 2021 to 2027, which will increase public housing stock by 11%. Home buyers can expect a good mix of Standard, Plus and Prime flats in various locations island-wide, including new housing areas such as Mount Pleasant.

The first BTO project at Mount Pleasant will be launched in the October 2025 BTO exercise. Conveniently situated near the Mount Pleasant MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, residents can also look forward to an eating house, supermarket and shops within the precinct. There will also be a polyclinic, library, town park and sports facilities nearby at the future Toa Payoh Integrated Development. With its location near the iconic MacRitchie Reservoir, residents will have easy access to lush green spaces, recreational activities and a tranquil nature retreat within the city.

Over the next few years, HDB will progressively develop the 33-hectare estate into a new housing area, which will yield approximately 5,000 new homes when fully completed. The design of the new Mount Pleasant estate, including its housing developments, will incorporate the area’s rich heritage, where selected elements and buildings will be conserved, integrated or repurposed.

HDB will also be holding another Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise later this year, to provide more options for home buyers who are looking to move into their flats sooner.

Enhancements to the Fresh Start Housing Scheme

The Fresh Start Housing Scheme helps second-timer (ST) families with children staying in public rental flats buy a 2-room Flexi or 3-room Standard flat on a shorter lease, and start afresh in a new home. The scheme integrates financial assistance in the form of the Fresh Start Housing Grant, with personal responsibility and social support, to facilitate their home ownership journey.

HDB will enhance the scheme to support more public rental households with children in realising their home ownership aspirations:

a) Increasing the Fresh Start Housing Grant from $50,000 to $75,000
Eligible ST families on the Fresh Start Housing Scheme will receive an upfront disbursement of $60,000 into their CPF Ordinary Account (OA) before collecting keys to their new flat. Another $15,000 will be disbursed into their CPF OA in equal tranches over 5 years after key collection. The revised grant will take effect from the July 2025 BTO exercise.

b) Extending Fresh Start Housing Scheme to first-timer (FT) families with children staying in public rental flats
To benefit more families, the Fresh Start Housing Scheme will be extended to FT families with children staying in public rental flats. They can purchase a 2-room Flexi or 3-room Standard flat on a shorter lease, which will be more affordable compared to those on 99-year leases. As first-timers who have not previously received a housing subsidy, these families will be eligible for the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) of up to $120,000, instead of the Fresh Start Housing Grant of $75,000 meant for ST families.

Eligibility conditions for FT households are similar to those for STs. FT families who are eligible can apply for the Fresh Start Housing Scheme from April 2025. Those emplaced on the scheme can book flats starting from the first BTO exercise in 2026.

Enhancements to Silver Housing Bonus (SHB)

The Silver Housing Bonus is one of the housing monetisation options available for seniors to supplement their retirement income. With effect from 1 December 2025, the Silver Housing Bonus will be enhanced to provide greater support for seniors who right-size to a 3-room or smaller HDB flat:

a) Adjustment to eligibility criteria for SHB
Seniors will qualify for SHB as long as they commit to a net increase of up to $60,000 in their CPF RA after right-sizing, with the sum going towards their retirement payouts. They can do so by using their CPF housing refunds, and may no longer need to make a cash top-up to qualify for the SHB.

b) Higher cash bonus
Seniors right-sizing to a 2-room or smaller flat, including Community Care Apartments, will receive an additional cash bonus of $10,000, bringing the maximum SHB quantum from $30,000 to $40,000. This additional cash bonus will apply regardless of the amount that the senior commits to their CPF retirement payouts.

c) Extension of SHB to seniors right-sizing from private residential property with Annual Value (AV) between $21,000 and $31,000
Currently, only seniors right-sizing from property with an AV of $21,000 or less are eligible for SHB. To provide support to more seniors, the SHB will be extended to those who right-size from a private residential property with AV between $21,300 and $31,000. This group of seniors will receive up to $10,000 in total maximum bonus if they right-size to a 3-room flat, or up to $20,000 if they right-size to a 2-room flat. With this extension, more than 15,000 additional seniors can now qualify for SHB.

Committee of Supply 2025