Affordable homes for everyone

1

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has proposed to increase the limit of house prices to RM400,000 under the My First Home Scheme beginning January 2012.

The improved scheme, of which the limit previously was set at RM200,000, would be available to house buyers through joint loans of husband and wife, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said when tabling the 2012 Budget at the Parliament here yesterday.

The government launched the scheme in March 2011 to meet the demand for houses from those earning below RM3,000.

Najib, who is also finance minister, said the government would also identify areas in the vicinity of mass rapid transit, light rail transit, and other public transport system to be developed by 1Malaysia People’s Housing (PR1MA) for housing project.

He said in this regard, the government intended to develop several plots of government-owned land around Sungai Besi and Sungai Buloh.

Najib said PR1MA would be the developer for projects on land owned by the government and play a main role in ensuring that the distribution of the housing units would be transparent and fair through an open balloting system.

According to him, 1,880 houses would be built in Putrajaya and Bandar Tun Razak this year while 7,700 houses would be built in Cyberjaya, Putra Heights, Seremban, Damansara and Bukit Raja next year.

“The government will ensure the house prices under the scheme are lower than market prices as the land and facilitation funds are provided to developers,” he said.

Najib said the government would also provide 100 per cent duty-exemption on loan instruments for the purchase of these houses.

“The government would also encourage the construction of more houses using the build-then-sell concept to protect buyers who bear risks of projects being delayed or abandoned,” he said.

For this purpose, Islamic banks had agreed to provide syariah-compliant financing and undertake construction risks, he said.

He said the installment would only commence after the house was completed and would be implemented for houses costing RM600,000 and below.

For Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR), Najib said, some RM443 million was allocated for the construction of 8,000 units for sale and 7,000 units to be rented next year.

Meanwhile, the Rumah Mesra Rakyat programme managed by Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd would continue to help the low-income group own decent houses, he said.

“Under this programme, those with land but without a house or live in dilapidated houses are eligible for financing to build a house,” he said.

SPNB would build 10,000 units in 2012, he said.

“Each house costing RM65,000 would be sold for RM45,000 and the government will subsidise RM20,000 with an allocation of RM200 million,” he said.

Apart from this, through the Abandoned Housing Rehabilitation Programme, the government would continue this noble effort with an allocation of RM63 million in 2012 to rehabilitate 1,270 abandoned houses, Najib said.

Najib said the government would also allocate RM40 million for restoration and maintenance of public and private low-cost housing.

Sympathising with fishermen, he said, the government would establish the Special Housing Fund for Fishermen with an allocation of RM300 million to build and refurbish houses with basic infrastructure.

“The government sympathises with fishermen who do not have fix incomes and rely mainly on their daily catches. Most fishermen live in dilapidated houses,” he said. — Bernama