Five-year moratorium for PR1MA homes resale ‘too short’

KUALA LUMPUR: Reducing the moratorium period for the resale of 1Malaysia People’s Housing (PR1MA) homes will discourage buyers from holding their units, which is not in line with the programme’s objective.

“PR1MA homes should be for longterm investment. Five years is a very short period. From the day you buy, technically if construction is taking place as well, it may take three years and you are actually using the place for only two years,” said CBRE-WTW managing director Foo Gee Jen.

“This to me is not healthy. I think the PR1MA home concept, end of the day, is about encouraging people to hold it longer, not to speculate,” he told reporters at the 2017 Asia Pacific Real Estate Market Outlook briefing yesterday.

Foo suggested that the government put a cap on the profit level, whereby sellers are required to return a portion of the profit to the government if it exceeds the profit level. He said the money can be used to subsidise the next project and bring down prices further.

In such cases, he said, sellers should pay back at least 50% of the profit to the government, which can then be used to offset the rising prices of land.

“I think the government should not just allow people to enter the market in five years’ time, it is too short a period. If it is calculated from vacant possession, it is not too bad but if it is from the day you sign on the dot, that is three years gone,” Foo said.

He said the mechanism of affordable housing is to make sure people have a roof over their head and not about selling.

However, Foo lauded the increased combined income eligibility of RM15,000 (from RM10,000) as it commensurates with the rising cost of living. -