CEO: New scheme allows 100,000 more to own homes

PETALING JAYA: Almost 100,000 Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) applicants will be eligible to enjoy increased accessibility to home loans under the just announced end-financing scheme.

Its chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Mutalib Alias said that with the new scheme, more than 74% or 980,000 PR1MA registrants, would have better access to the loans, which was a critical step towards home ownership.

“For example, those earning RM3,000 per month may be able to secure financing of up to RM295,000, from the previous loan threshold of about RM187,000, subject to terms and conditions,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The key features of this scheme include stepped-up financing; access to EPF Account 2 housing withdrawal; and a waiver on stamp duty for Sales & Purchase and Loan agreements.

Under the scheme, the conventional ruling on the maximum loan offered based on salary scale will be relaxed. This is to check immediate loan application rejections.

Abdul Mutalib said PR1MA homebuyers may start applying for this scheme immediately and the results will be made known from January 2017 onwards.

“To date, 103,166 units of PR1MA homes are in various stages of construction. Of this, 10,000 units are expected to be completed by the end of this year,” he added.

The new scheme is a collaboration between PR1MA, Bank Negara Malaysia, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and four banks – Maybank, CIMB, RHB and AmBank.