Tengku Zafrul: 67,000 families, mainly from B40, have bought homes under govt SRP scheme

PETALING JAYA: Nearly 67,000 families have bought houses under the My First Home scheme (SRP) from its 2011 launch up to February, says Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

According to Tengku Zafrul, this worked out to house purchases worth RM14.8bil in total under the scheme, where 91% of applicants are from the B40 group and 92% of them are aged 35 and below.

Tengku Zafrul said the government expected SRP to benefit 25,000 B40 and M40 applicants this year with an estimated allocation of RM5.9bil.

“Also contributing to this success was the involvement of 26 banks in the SRP scheme.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the support and cooperation,” he said at the launch of i-Biaya at Sunway Resort here on Thursday (April 14).

i-Biaya is a joint initiative by the Finance Ministry and the Housing and Local Government Ministry to facilitate home ownership among low- and middle-income earners.

SRP by Cagamas SRP Bhd is one of the three initiatives under i-Biaya, which also consists of a credit scheme by Syarikat Jaminan Kredit Perumahan and rent to own scheme for 1Malaysia Housing Programme (PR1MA).

SRP is a government initiative to help eligible first-time housebuyers obtain up to 110% financing from participating banks, enabling them to own a home without making a down payment.

It is open to first-time buyers earning monthly salaries of RM5,000 and below for single applicants, or RM10,000 and below for joint applicants.

They are eligible to purchase a property in either the primary or secondary market with a maximum value of RM500,000.

On behalf of the government, Tengku Zafrul thanked the five banks - Ambank Islamic Bhd, Ambank (M) Bhd, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd, and Maybank Islamic Bhd - for recording the most approved and offered SRP applications.

Tengku Zafrul said the five banks had approved a total of 81% of applications under SRP up to December.

“I hope this will motivate other financial institutions to work with us in achieving home ownership targets among the B40 and M40,” he added.

Also present at the launch was Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, his deputy Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Mutalib, and Deputy Finance Minister Yamani Hafez Musa, among other government officials.

Reezal Merican said the credit scheme by SJKP had approved more than 12,000 applications with a total allocation of RM1.35bil from 2008 to February this year.

“This shows that the government has never stopped (carrying out its duties),” he added.

The credit scheme by SJKP is an initiative for those in the gig economy.

Reezal Merican also said the rent to own scheme for PR1MA homes was officially launched on Thursday.

“This will also give space to Keluarga Malaysia, specifically the M40 group, to own their dream home with a more flexible ownership scheme,” he added.

Under the new rent to own scheme, current PR1MA home occupants are allowed to buy the units they live in after five years.

The monthly rental rate varies according to the price of each house, to a maximum total value of RM300,000.