PETALING JAYA: Groups representing house buyers support the Government's efforts to provide more affordable housing but feel there is room for improvement in implementing the various initiatives.
National House Buyers Association (HBA) secretary-general Chang Kim Loong said the association was happy that the Government heeded its call to unlock the country's land bank for more areas to be developed for housing.
However, he felt that the implementation of initiatives like the 1Malaysia People Housing programme (PR1MA) could be better.
“I don't think PR1MA should be applicable to those who already own one property.
“It should only be for first time house buyers,” he said.
Under the eligibility criteria, PR1MA applicants must be at least 21 years old and own no more than one property, among others.
Chang pointed out that the Nusantara PR1MA project was oversubscribed by six times and this showed that there were not enough houses available.
“So if there are not enough houses, we should not open up the market to those who already own a house.
“It is not fair to others who do not even own a single property,” he said.
He also suggested that PR1MA should blaze the trail for other developers in implementing the “build then sell” concept where houses are sold only after they are fully constructed.
“By 2015, all developers must apply this method. But why not let PR1MA be the forerunner in doing this?” he proposed.
Information technology analyst Tan Beng Teong lauded the changes to the eligibility criteria in My First Home Scheme as it enabled him to qualify as a purchaser.
“Now that the individual income limit has been increased from RM3,000 to RM5,000 monthly, I can apply for the scheme.
“I've been planning to buy a house but the prices of homes these days have sky rocketed so much that it is out of my budget,” said the 31-year-old.
Tan said he hoped that PR1MA would allocate more houses for sale as prospective buyers had to compete with each other in an open balloting system. - The Star
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