PETALING JAYA: In a move to make it easier for people to own houses, the Selangor government is in discussions with financial institutions to find the best mechanism for housing loans under the Rumah Selangorku programme.
The discussions involve financing and the provision of a deposit of 10% for the purchase of units under the programme.
Selangor Housing, Urban Well-being and Entrepreneur Development Committee chairperson Rodziah Ismail said if a positive outcome is achieved, it could address almost all issues related to ownership of affordable housing for the B40 group in Selangor.
She said the state government is also improving efforts to provide more rent-to-own units.
“These units are seen to be a catalyst for efforts to create financial stability for buyers, in addition to helping them prepare a deposit for the purchase of a house,” she told theSun.
In addition, the Selangor government also plans to establish a cooperative relationship with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Credit Counselling and Management Agency (AKPK).
“The collaboration with BNM and AKPK is for a special loan programme to help applicants from among the B40 and M40 groups to obtain home financing alongside financial advisory services. This will allow for more flexible loan restructuring to allow applicants to purchase affordable homes quickly,” she said.
A study conducted by the Selangor Housing Board revealed that applicants were not thorough in checking the terms and conditions of the Selangorku House Registration System.
It is estimated that only 50% of applicants who accepted the Board’s offer successfully obtained financing while the remaining 50% failed due to various factors.
“Some failed to give due consideration to the main conditions set by the bank to successfully obtain the loan, and their ability to pay the monthly instalments,” Rodziah said.
She added that some applicants wish to purchase a Rumah Selangorku unit priced at RM250,000, while their monthly income only qualified them for loans for units priced below RM150,000.
“There are also certain cases where offers were rejected due to divorce, death, job relocation and other reasons. There were also cases where the applicant could not be traced because the Board only has their old mailing address.
“Even the email addresses and phone numbers were not updated by the applicants in the Rumah Selangorku online registration system.”
Rodziah said some Rumah Selangorku housing projects that are still in the initial stages of construction over a relatively long period caused applicants to lose interest and no longer wished to proceed with the purchase.
She said Budget 2021 announced by the federal government also helped buyers to get full stamp duty exemption from 2021 to 2025 on transfer documents and agreements on loans for the purchase of a first residential unit priced up to RM500,000.
“However, potential home buyers, especially the M40 and T20 groups, may continue to take a more cautious attitude in making decisions to buy ‘big-ticket items’, especially free-price properties and focus more on affordable ones.”
Rodziah also said the Selangor government is optimistic that real estate market prices were under control, stable and have a high demand for now, although the Overnight Policy Rate is expected to continue to increase gradually.
Rumah Selangorku is a state government initiative to help the rakyat own their own house. The programme includes Rumah Idaman MBI and Rumah Harapan.
As of Sept 1, the programme had 48,131 units involving 138 projects. Of these, 29,822 units from 86 projects have been completed and handed over to buyers. A total of 18,309 units are still under construction, involving 52 projects.
A total of 42,426 units have been purchased while the remaining 5,705 are still unsold, or pending conclusion of a Sale and Purchase agreement.
