Making it easier for buyers

Buyers of homes under the 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme (PR1MA) are now offered a scheme to pay just the monthly interest for the first five years. This is part of an end-financing scheme to enhance home ownership.

Threshold of household income of those eligible for PR1MA homes increased from RM10,000 to RM15,000

This is expected to allow at least 15,000 more households to benefit

Year 1-5 pay only interest. Year 6 onwards, pay interest and principal under a stepped-up financing scheme

Can withdraw from EPF Account Two for monthly instalments

If taken from EPF, one cannot withdraw from Account Two for other purposes until the loan is settled

Choose from stepped-up financing, EPF withdrawal or both

Choose from four banks – Maybank, CIMB, RHB and AmBank

PETALING JAYA: At least 15,000 Malaysians, who were unable to secure bank loans after successfully applying for 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme (PR1MA) houses, will now get their homes thanks to a special endfinancing scheme.

The scheme, which took effect from Jan 1, allows them to get a higher loan with lower monthly instalments so that they could afford their chosen PR1MA home.

Up until last year, 60% of successful home applicants had to forgo the PR1MA offer, chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Mutalib Alias said.

“All was good until after the balloting stage, where they are allocated their unit. After that, they go to the banks and realise they are either ineligible for a housing loan, or that the margin was insufficient.

“Our aim this year is to get at least 15,000 PR1MA units booked, compared to only 4,500 units taken up last year,” he said.

The new scheme for PR1MA homebuyers offers “steppedup” financing for the first five years and a second option to withdraw from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Account Two.

Under both options, a homebuyer pays only the monthly interest for the first five years; the principal amount is added on from the sixth year until the loan is paid off.

Abdul Mutalib said applicants must be firsttime housebuyers with offer to purchase (OTP) letters from PR1MA, have individual or household monthly incomes between RM2,500 and RM15,000, and not blacklisted under the Central Credit Reference Information System.

PR1MA has partnered with four banks to provide the special endfinancing scheme – Maybank, RHB Bank, CIMB Bank and AmBank. It is supported by EPF and approved by Bank Negara.

Successful PR1MA applicants are advised to contact the partner banks directly for more information.

PR1MA, which was launched in 2011, has approved about 260,000 PR1MA units nationwide. Out of that, an estimated 132,000 units are being built.

These units, which cost between RM100,000 and RM400,000, consist of apartments or terrace houses.

The Government had also recently raised the household income eligibility of applicants from RM10,000 to RM15,000.

Abdul Mutalib explained that PR1MA had received cases where households above the previous RM10,000 limit still could not afford to buy homes at market prices.

“This will not affect those earning below RM10,000 because in our database, 64% of applicants have a monthly household income of between RM2,500 and RM4,000,” he said.

On the Government’s move to halve the moratorium period for the resale of PR1MA homes, Abdul Mutalib said PR1MA and its partner banks agreed that five years was a reasonable period.

“Most PR1MA houses are usually bought by firsttime house owners. We reckon they would want to keep their homes rather than cash out after five years.

“Also, some of them would be at the start of their career when they buy a house. As they progress, their needs will change so they can upgrade to a more suitable property after five years and not 10,” he said.

PR1MA has also proposed that the Government begin the moratorium period from the date of the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC), instead of the Sales and Purchase Agreement signing date.