RTO housing scheme to be upgraded

IMPROVEMENTS are being made to the Rent-to-Own (RTO) housing scheme to meet the needs of the target groups, says Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir.

The Deputy Local Government Development Minister said the ministry was prepared to work with various agencies and the private sector as well as financial institutions to expand the scheme to more people.

He added the RTO scheme involves developers and financial institutions to lease houses to certain groups of buyers.

“The government has decided to expand the RTO scheme to enable more people, especially the B40 and M40, to own houses,” he told Rushdan Rusmi (PN-Padang Besar) during Question Time.

Rushdan had asked the ministry whether the RTO concept for first-time house buyers would be supported by financial institutions or through government agencies such as the Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB), 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme (PR1MA) or cooperatives.

Akmal Nasrullah said the RTO scheme was introduced in 2017 to assist the B40 group as they could not secure financing from the financial institutions.

He added the RTO scheme has been implemented in 18 People’s Housing Projects (PPR) involving 7,234 housing units.

“As of Sept 30 this year, a total of 5,620 families nationwide were offered this scheme.

“The government is committed to providing affordable housing programmes to improve the people’s wellbeing, and to ensure that every citizen has a place to live,” he said.