Affordable housing programmes only offer false hope to many, says PBK treasurer-general

Tiew noted only civil servants B40 and M40 groups who can get government housing loans can benefit from the affordable housing programmes. – Bernama photo

SIBU (Feb 26): The federal government’s efforts to help the low-income group own a house through its “affordable housing” (RMM) projects is nullified by the impossibility for many of them to get housing loans from banks, said Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) treasurer-general Jamie Tiew Yen Houng.

She added although the aims of the affordable housing programmes were commendable, in reality they offer false hope to the B40 and M40 groups.

“Programs such as Prima and SPNB till the recent Affordable Housing Scheme (RMM), the government’s policies to help the people who cannot afford to buy their own house seem to be helpful but the low-income groups are faced with the stumbling block of difficulty in obtaining bank loans,” Tiew said in a press release yesterday.

Tiew noted only civil servants B40 and M40 groups who can get government housing loans can benefit from the affordable housing programmes.

“Only those civil servants who can apply for government loans are eligible to buy. As for low-income people in the private sector, almost all of their applications were rejected by banks,” she said.

Tiew added this had led to young people in the private sector who could not obtain loans to wonder if the affordable housing projects were only for civil servants.

She urged the federal government to solve the problem of commercial banks’ refusal to approve housing loans for lower-income group, instead of launching so-called assistance programmes, such as RM10,000 assistance for first-time buyers and affordable housing projects.

Also present at PBK life president Yu Chin Liik and secretary-general, Priscilla Lau.

from Borneo Post Online https://ift.tt/K42OLmv
via IFTTT