So #SGBudget2025 has just dropped on Tuesday, unveiling a ton of goodies such as more vouchers, grants, and subsidies for everyone to enjoy. After all, this is a special year, and the government has certainly gone out with a bang to ensure that this Budget is a budget for everyone from all walks of life.
Amongst the many announcements that Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong made, several were particularly geared towards homeowners—not only to mitigate the rising cost of living but also to highlight the government’s direction and priorities when it comes to housing and property.
If you are a homeowner (or prospective homeowner), here’s a wrap-up of some key announcements that will benefit you.
Lower property tax for 2025
Image credit: Construction Plus Asia
It technically isn’t part of the Budget 2025 lineup of announcements per se, but PM Wong did highlight that in November 2024 last year, the government announced that a rebate of up to 20% will be introduced this year, for all owner-occupied residential properties, capped at $1,000. As of time of writing, most of us would have already been notified of our property tax amount or have already paid, so that’s one thing to celebrate.
PM Wong also highlighted that the government had already revised the Annual Value bands of owner-occupier Property Tax rates for residential properties, by increasing the brackets of each tier of tax. Essentially, that means that more homes now fall within bands with lower tax rates!
Climate vouchers
Image credit: NTUC Fairprice
In March last year, the government introduced Climate Vouchers under the Climate Friendly Households Programme to help households save on utility costs. The initiative incentivises the purchase of eco-friendly and energy-efficient appliances, such as refrigerators, LED lights, and water-efficient shower fittings. Initially, only HDB households were eligible, receiving $300 worth of vouchers to offset these costs.
Here’s the good news—if you live in a HDB, you’ll soon be getting an additional $100 on top of the $300 that you already received last year. And if you live in private property, you will get to enjoy the full $400 worth or vouchers as well!
Bear in mind that you have until 31st Dec 2027 to use these vouchers, and you can use them to purchase energy and water efficient household products only.
Up to $760 in U-Save rebates
Speaking of utilities, another goodie that was announced at the Budget pertained to U-Save rebates, which are basically quarterly rebates to offset HDB households’ utility expenses.
All eligible households will receive up to $760 in U-Save rebates, depending on the unit type of your flat, to help cope with the rising costs of utilities. This will be disbursed in two tranches: one in April, and the other in October, on top of the existing GST Voucher and Assurance Package U-Save rebates which were announced previously. According to PM Wong, these rebates would be able to cover about 6 months of utilities expenses for those living in 1- and 2-room flats or three months of utility expenses for those living in 3- and 4-room flats.
Unlike the Climate Vouchers, the U-Save rebates are only for those living in HDB flats.
Enhanced Fresh Start Housing Scheme
Image credit: Ministry of National Development
Another significant housing-related announcement that will greatly benefit those from lower income and vulnerable families pertains to enhancements to the Fresh Start Housing Scheme.
What is the scheme all about? Launched in 2016, the scheme is essentially to help second-timer families (i.e. those who have enjoyed a housing subsidy previously) with young children, who are currently living in public rental flats, to own their next homes. Currently, the grants are capped at $50,000.
As per the Budget announcement, this grant amount will now be raised to $75,000, and the objective is to help eligible families buy a 2-room flexi or 3-room Standard flats on a shorter lease. The scheme will also be extended to first-time home-buying families with children who are living in public rental flats to allow them to buy similar flats as well, but they won’t be eligible for the $75,000 grant.
Expansion of subsidies for senior-friendly enhancements to homes
Image credit: Age Well SG
If you’re familiar with how the HDB’s Home Improvement Programme (HIP) works, you would be familiar with the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme, which is one of three categories of works under the HIP.
In short, EASE will provide subsidies for senior-friendly items installed in your flat to improve mobility and safety within the flat, such as grab bars, slip-resistant flooring, bidets, and even ramps. To qualify, households will need to have at least one family member who is aged 65 or older, or someone between 60 and 64 who requires assistance with at least 1 or more of the Activities of Daily Living (ADL).
The EASE programme will be extended until 2028, and expanded to households residing in private properties as well!
Over 50,000 new homes to be built over next 3 years
Image credit: Our Daily Bread Singapore
Of course, no Budget announcement is complete without an update on the state of supply and prices of public housing in Singapore, which is naturally a top concern for many Singaporeans.
As you know, the past few years saw the supply of new BTO flats drop drastically because of construction delays and supply chain issues, which conversely resulted in a spike in application rates for newly launched flats. Basically, the supply could not keep pace with demand, causing many Singaporeans to miss out on successfully balloting for a BTO flat. This indirectly led to a rise in HDB resale prices over the past few years.
In his Budget announcement, PM Wong highlighted that in the past few years, BTO supply has finally been ramped up decisively, and application rates have now stabilised and fallen below pre-Covid-19 levels. He also gave a preview into what to expect for future BTOs—over 50,000 new flats will be built in places like Woodlands, Bayshore and Mount Pleasant. In addition, he mentioned that the HDB has been pushing for shorter completion times for new BTOs, and for those who want to get their flat sooner, a second Sale of Balance Flat exercise will be held later this year.
More property & housing perks to come?
As per the usual Budget process, the main Budget announcement will soon be followed up with the various ministries’ Committee of Supply (COS) debates. Stay tuned for the Ministry of National Development’s COS: that’s where we will get more details on the various property and housing related announcements, and fingers crossed, more to come.
In the meantime check out some of our articles here:
- 29,000 Older Flats To Undergo HDB’s HIP, Over $400 Million To Be Spent On Upgrading Works
- 9 Hacks That Helped These Homeowners Pay Under $60 For Utilities For Over Half A Year
- What To Know About The Government’s Latest One-Off Property Tax Rebate, & What It Means For HDB Homeowners
Cover image adapted from: Our Daily Bread Singapore
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