The State Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee has urged the Federal Government to build more People’s Housing Project (PPR) for lower income citizens in Penang who are not qualified to obtain home loans.
The Penang state is currently looking for lands for the Federal Government to build such houses, so it can be rented out to these people to ensure a roof over their heads.
Currently, Penang has the second lowest number of PPR homes with only four projects to-date, offering 999 units. Meanwhile, the lowest number was recorded in Labuan which has 500 PPR units from one project.
According to the State Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo, in a discussion with Bank Negara Malaysia, it is revealed that there is an almost 60% loan rejection rate among the applicants of low-cost and medium-cost units.
The Federal Government should help the needy by liaising with Bank Negara Malaysia and urge them to loosen the lending rules for such applicants. Help such as providing a 100% loan, reintroducing the developer’s interest bearing scheme (DIBS) and offering a longer period to settle their home loans, can be considered for these people.
“These measures will help these low earning people to finally afford a house,” said Jagdeesh.
Image: Sourced from themalaysiantimes.com.my
Mangalesri Chandrasekaran, Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email mangales@propertyguru.com.my
