Step-Up CPF Housing Grant 2026
- The Step-Up CPF Housing Grant is $15,000 for a second-timer married couple or family. One flat amount, no tiers.
- It is not an upgrading grant. The flat you are buying must be a 2- or 3-room flat. A 4-room purchase gets nothing.
- Household income must be at or under $7,000 — the lowest ceiling of any HDB housing grant.
- It applies to a new flat from HDB as well as a resale flat.
- Second-timers cannot claim the EHG or the CPF Housing Grant at all. The Proximity Housing Grant still stacks.
What the Step-Up CPF Housing Grant is
The Step-Up CPF Housing Grant is a $15,000 subsidy for households that have already taken one housing subsidy from the state — second-timers — and are buying a small flat. HDB's own description is that it helps second-timer applicants "with your new or resale flat purchase". It is credited to the CPF Ordinary Accounts of the Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident members of the core family nucleus, and it can offset the purchase price or reduce the housing loan.
Almost every third-party description of this grant, including the one this site published until 20 August 2026, calls it an upgrading grant for families moving to a bigger flat. That is the opposite of the rule. HDB caps the flat you buy at 3-room. The grant exists to help a household that already used its subsidy move within the small-flat range, not to help it trade up.
Which flats qualify
HDB sets the condition in two halves: the flat you own now, and the flat you are buying. Both halves have to match.
| Your current flat | The flat you may buy |
|---|---|
| 2-room Standard flat, bought from HDB after October 2024 or bought on the open market with CPF housing grants | From HDB: a 2-room Flexi or 3-room Standard flat, or a 2-room Flexi or 3-room unclassified flat in a non-mature estate. On the open market: a 2- or 3-room Standard flat, or a 2- or 3-room unclassified flat in a non-mature estate. |
| 2-room unclassified flat in a non-mature estate, bought from HDB after October 1995 or on the open market with CPF housing grants | |
| 3-room Standard flat, or 3-room unclassified flat in a non-mature estate, from HDB or on the open market | |
| A flat rented under the Public Rental Scheme |
Source: HDB — Step-Up CPF Housing Grant (Families), read 20 August 2026. "Unclassified" flats are flats sold before the October 2024 sales exercise and not classified Standard, Plus or Prime.
The non-mature estates HDB names are Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang, Hougang, Jurong East, Jurong West, Punggol, Sembawang, Sengkang, Tengah, Woodlands and Yishun.
The rest of the conditions
Five further conditions apply, and all of them have to hold at the point you apply for your HDB Flat Eligibility letter.
| Condition | What HDB requires |
|---|---|
| Household | A married couple or family that has taken one housing subsidy already. Singles are not eligible. |
| Employment | Worked continuously for at least 12 months as at 2 months before the HFE letter application, and working when you apply. |
| Income ceiling | Average gross monthly household income across all applicants and occupiers must not exceed $7,000 over that same 12-month window. |
| Remaining lease (resale only) | More than 20 years years remaining, and enough lease to cover the youngest core member to age 95. |
| Private property | No applicant or occupier may own or have an interest in a private residential property, or have disposed of one in the last 30 months, counted from the legal completion date. |
Source: HDB — Step-Up CPF Housing Grant (Families). See the sources block at the foot of this page for verification dates.
The income ceiling is the condition that catches most households. At $7,000 it is lower than the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant's $9,000 and half the CPF Housing Grant's $14,000. A second-timer family earning $8,000 between them clears no housing grant ceiling at all except the Proximity Housing Grant, which has none.
What a second-timer household can and cannot claim
Two of the three big grants are closed to second-timers outright, which is a larger loss than the Step-Up Grant makes up for.
| Grant | Available to second-timers? | Maximum, families |
|---|---|---|
| Enhanced CPF Housing Grant | No — first-timer grant | $120,000 forgone |
| CPF Housing Grant for Resale Flats | No — first-timer grant | $80,000 forgone |
| Proximity Housing Grant | Yes | $30,000 |
| Step-Up CPF Housing Grant | Yes — second-timers only | $15,000 |
Grant maxima from the sources block below. HDB names the Proximity Housing Grant on its own Step-Up page as a grant a second-timer may also apply for on a resale flat.
The most a second-timer family can therefore collect on a resale flat is $45,000 — the Step-Up Grant plus the Proximity Housing Grant at its live-together rate. Compare that with the $230,000 HDB puts at the top of the first-timer range, and the cost of a second bite at public housing is clear.
A worked example
A married couple sold a 3-room flat they had bought with a grant, and are buying another 3-room resale flat within 4km of her parents. Their average gross monthly household income over the assessed 12 months is $6,000.
| Grant | Amount | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Enhanced CPF Housing Grant | $0 | First-timer grant |
| CPF Housing Grant for Resale Flats | $0 | First-timer grant |
| Step-Up CPF Housing Grant | $15,000 | 3-room next flat, income under $7,000 |
| Proximity Housing Grant | $20,000 | Within 4km of parents |
| Total | $35,000 |
This is a worked example computed on this site from the figures in the sources block below. It is not an official HDB table and not a quotation of your entitlement — HDB confirms that in your HFE letter.
Change one input — a 4-room flat instead of a 3-room — and the Step-Up Grant falls to zero, leaving $20,000. Change the income to $7,500 instead of $6,000 and it falls to zero again. Both are cliffs, not slopes: there is no reduced Step-Up Grant for a household slightly over the line.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Step-Up CPF Housing Grant in 2026?
It is a flat $15,000 for a second-timer married couple or family. It is not tiered by income like the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant, and it is not tiered by flat size like the CPF Housing Grant for Resale Flats.
Can I get the Step-Up Grant if I am buying a 4-room flat?
No. HDB restricts the flat you are buying to a 2-room Flexi or 3-room Standard flat bought from HDB, or a 2- or 3-room Standard or unclassified flat bought on the open market. A 4-room purchase receives nothing from this grant, whatever your current flat is.
What is the income ceiling for the Step-Up Grant?
Average gross monthly household income across all applicants and occupiers must not exceed $7,000, assessed over the 12-month period the employment condition uses rather than on your current salary.
Can second-timers claim the EHG or the CPF Housing Grant as well?
No. Both are first-timer grants, so a second-timer household cannot claim either. The Proximity Housing Grant is the one that can still be claimed alongside the Step-Up Grant on a resale flat.
Does the Step-Up Grant apply to a new flat from HDB?
Yes. HDB describes it as help with a new or resale flat purchase, and its own table lists a 2-room Flexi or 3-room Standard flat bought from HDB as a qualifying next flat.
Related pages
- Every HDB grant amount in 2026 — all four grants in one table.
- Enhanced CPF Housing Grant 2026 — the first-timer grant this one replaces.
- Proximity Housing Grant 2026 — the grant that still stacks on top.
- CPF grant calculator — check your own household against every grant at once.
Sources for the figures on this page
Every figure above is taken from the source named here on the date shown. Figures marked as estimates are reconstructed, not published by the authority.
- CPF Housing Grant income ceiling, couples and families; CPF Housing Grant, two Singapore Citizens, 2- to 4-room resale; Maximum housing grants, first-timer family buying resale — HDB / MyNiceHome — HDB grants guide verified 2026-08-20
- EHG income ceiling, families; Enhanced CPF Housing Grant maximum, families; Proximity Housing Grant, family living within 4km; Proximity Housing Grant distance threshold; Proximity Housing Grant, family living with parents or child — CPF Board — A guide to the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant and Proximity Housing Grant verified 2026-06-27
- Step-Up CPF Housing Grant income ceiling; Months since disposing of a private property before an HFE application; Continuous employment required for the Step-Up CPF Housing Grant; Age the next flat's remaining lease must cover, Step-Up eligibility; Minimum remaining lease of the next flat, Step-Up eligibility; Step-Up CPF Housing Grant, second-timer families — HDB — Step-Up CPF Housing Grant (Families) verified 2026-08-20