Sim Kiang Chiok
KUCHING: Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Sheda) Kuching branch chairman Sim Kiang Chiok welcomes the Rent-to-Own (RTO) scheme, announced during the tabling of Budget 2020 in Parliament on Friday.
He says the scheme is similar to staggered repayment for end-financing, where first five-year repayment is for interest, as RTO is for rental which can be lower than the interest repayment.
However, he believes that the RM3 billion for this scheme for houses up to RM500,000 is inadequate as it would translate to only between 6,000 and 10,000 houses for the whole of Malaysia.
Sim is also positive about the assistance to the youths in purchasing their first house, where the government would extend the Youth Housing Scheme administered by Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) from Jan 1 next year to Dec 31, 2021.
The scheme offers a 10-per cent loan guarantee through Cagamas Bhd, to enable borrowers full financing and RM200 monthly instalment assistance for the first two years, limited to 10,000 residential units.
“My reservation is that it might be inadequate with just 10,000 houses for the whole Malaysia,” said Sim in a statement issued in response to Budget 2020.
On the federal government’s initiative to reduce supply overhang of condominiums and apartments amounting to RM8.3 billion in the second quarter of this year, where it would lower the threshold on high-rise property prices in urban areas for foreign ownership from RM1 million to RM600,000 in 2020, Sim said this would not have any effect on Sarawak as the ruling in Sarawak was different – in that foreigners were allowed to buy properties priced above RM350,000.