The Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) Scheme provides comprehensive benefits to young, low-income families who choose to keep their family small. Families receiving assistance under the scheme are committed to keeping their families small and investing their limited resources in education and skills upgrading to achieve self-reliance.
Who can apply
You can apply for HOPE if you meet the following criteria:
1. Have household income of $1,500 or lower per month;*
2. Wife/Mother is aged 35 years or below; **
3. Are married or are a divorced/widowed mother with child custody;
4. Have 1 or 2 children who are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents (PRs) of Singapore;
5. One spouse is a Singapore citizen and the other is a Singapore Citizen or PR of Singapore; divorced/widowed mothers must be Singapore Citizens;
6. Husband/Divorced/Widowed mother is employed.
* For families where at least one spouse has post-secondary education, neither spouse should earn more than $1,000 per month each. If a divorced/widowed mother has post-secondary education, she must not earn more than $1,000 per month.
** For families where at least one spouse has post-secondary qualification, the wife/mother must be aged 30 - 35 years old. If a divorced/widowed mother has post-secondary education, she must be aged between 30-35 to qualify for HOPE as well.
What HOPE provides
The following types of assistance may be provided:
- Educational bursaries for the children from pre-school up to university-level education. This is on top of what is already provided for under Edusave. The annual bursaries for the various educational levels are as follows:-
- Preschool - $250 per annum (for mothers who do not work) and $2,000 for mothers with children aged 0- 6 if mothers are in full-time work#
- Primary - $400/- per annum
- Secondary - $800 per annum
- Junior college/ polytechnic/ITE - $1,200 per annum
- University - $2000/- per annum
- Special education - $600 per annum
- A housing grant of $50,000 to help the family pay for the mortgage. The grant is disbursed in annual installments of $2,500 to the mother's CPF account.
- A training grant of up to $10,000 per family for parents to attend skills training. This grant will be divided equally between the parents to encourage them to acquire new skills and enhance their employability. Divorced/widowed mothers receive $5,000.
- A one-off utilities grant of $1,000 to help the family offset utilities bills upon joining the scheme;
- Mentoring and family support from a social service agency to guide the family to achieve self-reliance.
- Cash incentives to help the couple with family planning.
# Full-time work is defined as a minimum of 30 hours a work per week, for at least six months in a year.
To Apply
Apply for the Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) Scheme at the Community Development Council (CDC) in your district. The CDC will assess if you qualify for the scheme.
Central-Singapore CDC
HDB Hub Bizthree
490, Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, #04-10
Tel: (65) 6370 9901
www.centralsingaporecdc.org.sg
North East CDC
3 Tampines Grande
#01-02, AIA Tampines
Tel: (65) 6424 4000
www.northeastcdc.org.sg
North West CDC
900 South Woodlands Drive
#01-04, Woodlands Civic Centre
Tel: (65) 6767 2288
www.northwestcdc.org.sg
South East CDC
10 Eunos Road 8
#02-01, Singapore Post Centre
Tel: (65) 6243 8753
www.southeastcdc.org.sg
South West CDC
The JTC Summit
8 Jurong Town Hall Road, #26-06
Tel: 1800-316 1616
www.southwestcdc.org.sg
Background on HOPE
Implemented on 1 January 2004, HOPE aims to help young, low-income families get out of the poverty trap by providing comprehensive assistance.
Families receiving assistance under the scheme are committed to investing their limited resources in education and skills upgrading; and keeping their families small.