KUALA LUMPUR — Property industry players are encouraged by the government’s move to boost the sector with a homeownership campaign and other incentives announced in the national budget.
The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (REHDA) Malaysia said the Government’s housing ownership initiatives in Budget 2019 will lend a helping hand to the people to own their dream homes.
The initiatives include stamp duty exemption for first time home buyers, low-interest financing for low-cost housing purchases, and extension of housing loan tenure for public servants, said the association in a statement.
“The stamp duty exemption on transfer instruments for the purchase of first house priced between RM300,001 to RM1 million announced by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is indeed a step in the right direction towards encouraging the rakyat to own properties, which is an effective wealth-creating instrument,” said REHDA.
REHDA president Soam Heng Choon said the RM1.5 billion allocation for affordable housing projects under the People’s Housing Programme, the Malaysia Civil Servants Housing Programme, PR1MA and Syarikat Perumahan Nasional Bhd would ensure that affordable houses would continue to be made available for those who are eligible.
“We hope the government will continue to undertake the provision of this category of houses,” he said.
Meanwhile Country Garden Malaysia and Forest City director of strategy Ng Zhu Hann said the government’s move to allow the private sector to engage in a new peer-to-peer lending scheme that will allow first-time homebuyers to adopt the “property crowdfunding” model.
“We applaud the peer-to-peer lending scheme introduced as it is an extremely forward-thinking initiative that will benefit the rakyat. Such collective and shared prosperity initiative will ensure Malaysia can once again rise to become the ‘Asian Tiger’,” he said.
Gamuda Land CEO Ngan Chee Meng noted that the scheme needs to be properly regulated as it involves public money.
“The crowdfunding scheme will provide a bigger and more innovative way of financing for first-time homeowners. The budget announcements have answered the prayers on affordable housing provision and financing for the B40 group,” he said.
Mah Sing Group Bhd’s Group Managing Director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said the government’s openness to innovative funding options to help buyers own properties is laudable.
Mah Sing said the group is committed to being one of the first adopters/supporters of this programme, once more details are available.
