Budget 2020 survey: More innovative home ownership schemes tops Budget 2020 wish list

Malaysian homebuyers are open and ever ready to consider new homeownership schemes as long as they benefit them.

An online survey conducted by EdgeProp.my to gauge what Malaysians want from the upcoming Budget 2020 when it comes to home ownership and the property sector found that a majority wanted to see more innovative schemes for property ownership in the market.

Some 575 out of the 900 respondents said they hoped Budget 2020 would announce the introduction of more innovative schemes that could help them own a property.

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A notable example of such schemes is FundMyHome which was introduced last year. Under this platform, aspiring first-time homebuyers only pay 20% of the property price to own a home while the remaining 80% of the price will be contributed by participating institutional co-investors who share the upside in the future value of the property.

Next on the people’s wishlist was for clearer and more up-to-date data on housing prices and supply (469 respondents).

When asked, Rehda president Datuk Soam Heng Choon says Rehda has been pushing for the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) to create a central database of Malaysia property inventories, existing developments and approved developments.

Such data, he says, would provide a clearer picture on housing demand and supply in the market. They will also help property developers make the right development decisions while offering property buyers an insight into the future development of a certain area, he adds.

KPKT has commenced work on this integrated demand-and-supply database and it is expected to be ready over the next two years.

The survey respondents were also hoping for more transparent bumiputera-units release mechanisms to be implemented (299 responses).

On this, Soam says a substantial number of unsold properties are bumiputera units, hence a standardised mechanism is urgently needed for developers to release the units to the buyers.

“Currently, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang have clear release mechanisms for unsold Bumiputera units, Perak is now working on it. However, other states do not have clear guidelines on this,” he adds.

Next up on the people’s wishlist, according to the EdgeProp.my survey, were for more financial assistance for first-time homebuyers (282) followed by more rent-to-own schemes to be introduced (199).    

Meanwhile, other respondents also hoped the government would allow buyers to use their Employees Provident Fund savings as collateral for home loan applications, extend the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) to resale markets, and consider the needs of the elderly for affordable senior community homes.

This story first appeared in the EdgeProp.my pullout on Oct 4, 2019. You can access back issues here.