Joint Singles Scheme or Orphans Scheme: Buy Your First HDB Flat With the Enhanced Housing Grant

This was originally posted on Planner Bee.

Who says you have to buy a home all on your own? If you’re 35 years old or above, you don’t have to shoulder the costs alone. You can Friends it up with your very own Rachel, Monica, Chandler, and Joey through the HDB Joint Singles Scheme and/or Orphans Scheme.

HDB Joint Singles Scheme

With the Joint Singles Scheme, around 2 to 4 single Singapore Citizens can buy a new 2-room Flexi flat in a non-mature estate or a resale HDB flat together.

To apply for this scheme, you need to be:

• Single (Duh)
• 35 years old or older (This is basic, guys)
• Not married to each other (Keep it in your pants!)

HDB Orphans Scheme

On the other hand, you can also apply for the HDB Orphans Scheme, which allows Singaporean siblings to buy a new or resale flat of any kind together.

To be eligible for this scheme, you and your sibling(s) need to be:

• Single
• 35 years old or older
• Orphans (Both parents are deceased)
• The child of at least one parent who had been a Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident

Both these schemes are funded by the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) and therefore have similar uses and general eligibility requirements as other EHG housing schemes.

Are you eligible to apply for EHG under these schemes?

Here’s a checklist for you to follow.

How much can you get?

The grant amount you will receive is based on the average gross monthly income of your household – the combined income of all working persons who will live there, both co-applicants and occupiers – for 12 months up to the date that you applied for the grant.

The scheme is socialised, so those who earn less will receive a larger grant amount while those who earn more are eligible for less. For example, if your average income only reaches $1,500 or less, you are eligible for a grant of $80,000.

On the other hand, if you and your housemates are doing well and your combined average monthly income reaches $9,000, you will only get a grant of $5,000.

How to apply for HDB Joint Singles Scheme or HDB Orphan Scheme?

For whichever scheme you’re thinking of applying, you can download and fill out the EHG application form and submit it with the necessary income documents to HDB at your booking appointment.

If you qualify and there are two of you who are co-applicants, the grant amount will be split equally between the two of you and credited to your CPF Ordinary Account. If there are more applicants, the grant will be credited to only two of you, with each receiving half of the grant.

With this scheme, you can finally have a place to call your own with your family — whether by blood or by choice.

This article was originally published on Ohmyhome.