Posted on 02 Oct 2015
“We have done our study. As you can see, during the last few years, housing prices have grown significantly. As a result, some people find that their income cannot reach the level where they can get loans to buy houses,” Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah told reporters at the Youth Housing Scheme launch yesterday.
He said the government has been studying ways to reduce house prices and promoting IBS is one of the ways.
“In terms of IBS in our country, the usage of IBS now is still very minimal. Some companies like SPNB (Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd) build the whole house with IBS while others only use IBS to build certain parts of the house,” he added.
Husni said IBS will be the key to developing affordable houses and ensuring prices are sustained. The system, as observed in other countries, will speed up the construction period and ensure the quality of houses, he added.
Husni said the decision follows requests from the private sector for the ministry to provide incentives for using IBS, particularly tax perks for importing the required machines. However, it is not compulsory for the private sector to use IBS in their projects.
Commenting on the Youth Housing Scheme, Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) chief executive Datuk Adinan Maning said some 500 applications had been received since its soft launch in July, of which 225 loans with a total value of RM57.5 million had been approved as at Sept 21.
“We hope it (the total value of loans approved) will hit RM1 billion by year-end,” he said.
Announced under Budget 2015, the scheme is a partnership among the government, BSN, Cagamas Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). It is a scheme for married youths aged between 25 and 40, with a combined household income of no more than RM10,000, who are looking to buy their first home.
BSN is the sole bank appointed to execute the scheme and, to date, a total of 886 property developers are on the panel for the scheme.
The scheme is limited to 20,000 applicants or valid for two years, whichever comes first.
BSN will provide home loans ranging from RM100,000 to RM500,000 with a tenure of up to 35 years or the age of 65, whichever is earlier.
Both conventional and Islamic home loans are available, with financing margin of up to 100% of the purchase price. Successful applicants receive additional financing up to 5% of the purchase price for the cost of Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance or Mortgage Reducing Term Takaful.
Successful applicants will need to have a BSN GIRO or GIRO-i account. Under the scheme, the government will provide further aid with monthly disbursements of RM200 for the first two years from the first disbursement to help couples with their loan repayments.
There will also be a 50% stamp duty exemption on the sale and purchase agreement as well as facility legal documents.
On whether the scheme will be extended in the future, Adinan said it is
up to the government to decide and it will make a recommendation to the
government if the response is good.
