Youth Housing Scheme eligibility criteria relaxed

PETALING JAYA: The government’s Youth Housing Scheme (YHS), which is solely offered by Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN), has been extended to Malaysian citizens aged 21 to 45 years old and single or married youths with household income of no more than RM10,000 per month.
The scheme, which expires at the end of this year, was previously targeted at married youths aged between 25 and 40 with a combined household income of no more than RM10,000, who are buying their first home. A check on BSN’s website showed that all other features of the scheme remain the same.
Announced under Budget 2015, YHS is a partnership between the government, BSN, Cagamas Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund. It was launched in July 2015 and offers 100% financing for first-time home buyers.
As of October 2016, BSN had approved only 1,600 loans with a total value of RM400 million. Earlier in August, it was reported that BSN had approved over 3,000 housing loans from over 6,000 applicants; a far cry from the 20,000 loans envisioned by the government.
It is understood that BSN is in talks with the government to extend the scheme beyond Dec 31, 2017. It has also been teaming up with property developers to further promote the scheme. As at press time, the bank had not responded to SunBiz’s queries.
Under the scheme, the bank provides home loans, both conventional and Islamic, ranging from RM100,000 to RM500,000 with a tenure of up to 35 years or the age of 65, whichever is earlier.
Successful applicants also receive additional financing of up to 5% of the purchase price for the cost of Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance or Mortgage Reducing Term Takaful. In addition, the government provides RM200 per month to aid monthly instalments, which will be credited to the borrower’s financing account for two years.
The scheme is offered for financing the purchase of completed, under construction or subsale properties with 100% stamp duty exemption on transfer of ownership and facility documents for properties priced up to RM300,000.