Book a house for RM1

JOHOR BARU: Eligible first time buyers of houses categorised as low cost and affordable homes in Johor can look forward to owning their dream house with a deposit of only RM1.

This is made possible as Bank Rakyat is offering eligible buyers a full housing loan and all that they need to pay is RM1 during registration.

Bank Rakyat managing director and president Datuk Mustafha Abd Razak said it had allocated about RM500mil financing facilities to the eligible buyers.

It is collaborating with the Sultan Ibrahim Foundation to enable the house buyers to own their dream low cost and affordable homes in the state priced below RM100,000.

“This is the first such housing loan scheme introduced by us in the country and we are planning to extend it to other states,” he told a press conference after the unveiling of the Bank Rakyat Johor Tower project by Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almar­hum Sultan Iskandar at Per­sada Johor International Convention Centre here yesterday.

The 37-storey office building, which comes with 550,000 sq ft floor area, is located between Jalan Trus and Jalan Gereja within the Ibrahim International Business District.

“Under the scheme, buyers only have to pay RM1 as deposit during the registration for the low cost and affordable houses,” he said.

Mustafha said the bank offered competitive and attractive rates for the scheme, adding that it would benefit about 6,000 eligible buyers of low cost and affordable homes.

He said the bank was not involved in the development of the 6,000 units of low cost and affordable houses as the project was undertaken by private developers or state-linked companies.

Mustafha said eligible buyers were required to register with the housing unit of the State Secretary office and not with the bank to screen their eligibility.

A potential house buyer, lorry driver Jalaluddin Yaakob, 30, lauded the move as it would benefit people like him and his family who were currently renting a house as the money for rental could be used to service the loan.

“However, the state government must ensure only eligible buyers are entitled for the scheme and not those who already owned houses,” he said.

Security guard S. Ramaguru, 48, concurred with Jalaluddin and expressed hope that the facilities would not be abused.