If you’re in the market for a low-cost house, take heart: the government is going to make your affordable home even more so, to the tune of RM30,000.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that the MyHome programme by the National Housing Council (NHC) will be launched in April, with a budget allocation of RM300 million to be distributed evenly to 10,000 low-cost home purchases for those who qualify.
Under the programme, qualified applicants could buy housing units wit prices defined as being low-cost by their respective state governments, with a subsidy provided by the federal government.
“For instance, if the price of low-cost houses is fixed at RM40,000 a unit by a state government while the developers have to sell them at RM70,000 each, qualified applicants will be able to buy it at RM40,000 while the balance of RM30,000 will be paid by the government,” he told a news conference after chairing the council’s meeting at Perdana Putra here.
Among the conditions imposed on MyHome applicants are they must earn less than RM3000 a month, and successful applicants are not allowed to sell the MyHome units they’ve bought in the first 10 years.
Housing developers could apply to be included in the programme to a special committee under the Housing and Local Government Ministry.
Once approved, these developers can advertise their low-cost units as being eligible for the MyHome subsidy, which will be paid directly to them by the federal government upon purchase.
“This will enable prospective buyers to benefit from this scheme, and make it easier for them to get a bank loan as they are already eligible for consideration,” he said.
Meanwhile, Najib said the meeting also decided to develop the MyHome Exchange, a comprehensive database on the housing sector.
He said the database would be very useful to the government to enable the NHC to obtain accurate and comprehensive information in determining the direction and development of the housing industry, and the supply and demand of housing units.
Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan added that the MyHome Exchange will be launched in three or four months’ time, and would act as a one-step information hub on housing projects in the country.
“It’s different from websites like iproperty.com as MyHome Exchange will have a comprehensive database, including the status of a housing project. For example, whether a housing project is 30 per cent or 50 per cent completed,” he said.
He said it would also have a database on private developers, government housing initiatives such as PR1MA, SPNB, 1MDB, and the National Housing Department.
The setting up of the National Housing Council, announced in the 2014 Budget, is aimed at monitoring, coordinating and formulating initiatives to ensure that the government’s aspiration to build one million affordable homes within the next five years could be achieved.
Photo: jo.sau / Flickr
Source: Bernama
