Malaysians excited at the prospect of becoming first-time home owners with govt’s ‘One Family One House’ initiative

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 — After years of renting, Yanny Lim wished she could own a house but did not think she could ever afford one.

The burden of forking out RM850 a month for just a room was weighing heavily on her shoulders.

“It isn’t like those days in the 70s where you can find a house at RM50,000. Today, with RM50,000 it’s even impossible to get a good car.

“Through this initiative by the government, I hope that more Malaysians like me will finally be able to have a home we can call our own,” Lim, 35, who works in human resources told Malay Mail.

Referring to the National Affordable Housing Council (MPMMN)’s “One Family One House” target of helping Malaysians secure a forever home at an affordable price, she added:

“In the duration of paying for a rented room, I have easily spent the amount of money needed to put a downpayment for a house, but the problem is, it isn’t like you can snap your fingers and then RM40,000 appears immediately.

“That’s one of the obstacles that has deterred me from buying my own house. I just can’t afford the downpayment needed for the houses currently on the market now”.

Lim had been on the search for a house for three years now.

On Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the initiative and instructed financial institutions to facilitate loans for the bottom 40 (B40) per cent and middle 40 (M40) groups to buy People’s Housing Project (PPR) flats and affordable houses.

He also said the focus would be on those who wanted to make direct purchases and rent-to-own to achieve the “One Family, One House” target.

Jenni Razak, 35, a mother of two, who works as a part-time tutor said she had been saving for years with her husband and still could not afford to get a house of their own.

“As you wait longer to save more, the prices of houses keep soaring higher, so there is no end to this and we will never be able to save enough to finally get a house of our own.

“We really want to have a house of our own, one where my children can grow up with stability without having to move whenever our rental contract expires or our rent increases and we can’t afford it anymore.

“It would mean so much for my children when they can finally decorate their own room and not fear having to move out abruptly,” said Jenni.

Facing a similar situation as Jenni, Khairil Mohd Husni, a father of three, said his family was even willing to live slightly away from the city centre.

He added that as long as he can find an affordable home for his family, he is thankful.

“At the moment we can’t afford a house with enough rooms for our three children and as a result, our children — two girls and a boy — have to share a room.

“Eventually they would want their own privacy and a room each of their own.

“I really hope that what the government is doing right now would help us finally to have our own home which we can call our forever home,” said Khairil when contacted.

The 33-year-old who works as a marketing executive said that in many countries abroad, to afford a house people move out of the city centre because the houses are more affordable.

He expressed hope that the government could emulate this as well so that more can have their own homes.

Ismail Sabri, in a statement recently, had also instructed Bank Negara Malaysia to review the housing financing model to facilitate house ownerships and to ensure that financial institutions are able to facilitate loans for the B40 and M40 groups to buy People’s Housing Programme (PPR) flats and affordable houses.

Expressing her excitement, Layla Rosli, a florist said she had been hunting for a house where she can finally plan to start a family with her husband.

At the moment, the 30-year-old said plans to have a child are put on hold, as she wanted to look for a house which she owns permanently.

“Twice where we live in our rented home, we had to shift out because the house owner wanted the house back.

“Situations like these have been very disruptive so we cannot plan to have a child and then suddenly we have to move to a new home.

“The government’s ‘One Family One House’ initiative is an encouraging one as this would mean that there will be more families who will no longer have to worry about a roof over their heads,” said Layla.

As a young working adult, Noor Yasmin Hamzah said the government initiative is a positive one and hopes that more Malaysians will be able to own their own homes.

“Be it PPR or affordable homes, we need more of these to help young working adults like me afford a house.

“Most people my age can’t even dream of having a house but I hope that looking forward, as we change for the better, I hope the housing market will also change to allow age groups like mine to have our own homes,” she added.

The prime minister also announced that in the future, PPRs will be built to include facilities such as internet connectivity and public transportation.