Letter from James Ang (TODAYonline)

I WAS fortunate to be eligible for the CPF Housing Grant in 2003 when I bought a Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flat.

I opted for the $40,000 grant due to its proximity to my mother’s house. Since then, the HDB has introduced an extra benefit for first-timers – the Additional Housing Grant (AHG). The amount of this grant was also raised early this year.

I assume that, when the AHG was introduced, it was intended to help first- timers secure their first HDB flat from the resale market. However, the AHG is not retrospective. In other words, people like myself would not be entitled to the AHG if we are to buy another resale flat purely because we are no longer deemed to be first-timers.

However, if my income has not risen (it has, in fact, fallen) since opting for the original CPF Housing Grant and my family is still a single-income family, and we have every intention of downgrading to a smaller flat (instead of upgrading), then I do not see why people in a position like mine cannot enjoy the AHG.

After all, if the HDB’s original intention was to help, then the first-timer requirement should be secondary.

In order to prevent possible abuse, previous first-timers applying for the AHG could be “scanned” for the following:

- Their income levels to check if it has fallen since the original CPF Housing Grant was taken.

- Allowing the AHG for those who are downgrading only.

- Imposing another minimum five-year occupation period of the newly-purchased resale flat.

With so much economic uncertainty going forward, would the HDB be willing to tweak the AHG?

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