13,038 applications for RM1.5 bln under Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme approved up to May 2022

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 13,038 financing applications amounting RM1.5 billion have been approved under the Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme up till May 31, 2022 since it began operating in 2008.

Deputy Finance Minister 1 Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah said a total of 14,308 applications had been received with 1,270 of them rejected due to some specific reasons.

“The first is the duplication of applications where 70 per cent of them make applications at various banks simultaneously.

“The second is in terms of ability to pay, which must be 65 per cent of the total income because the condition is that you must have an income of at least RM1,000.

“Third is that there are among the T20 group who are not working also applied which we think they can manage themselves with the bank institutions,” he said during a question and answer session at Dewan Negara yesterday.

He was replying to Senator Datuk Arman Azha Abu Hanifah’s question about the beneficiaries of the Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme announced by the government in Budget 2022 as well as the measures implemented by the government to increase participation in this programme.

In 2007, a company under the Minister of Finance Incorporated, Syarikat Jaminan Kredit Perumahan (SJKP) was established to provide a housing credit guarantee scheme to several targeted groups for home ownership.

This scheme allows members of the public who are capable but do not have official income proof or documents (salary statements) or earn irregular income to access up to 100 per cent housing financing from selected financial institutions.

Mohd Shahar said that in an effort to increase the number of participants from the targeted group, the government has continued this scheme in Budget 2022 through the provision of a guarantee of up to RM2 billion which is expected to benefit 5,000 to 6,000 targeted households including young people, gig workers and microentrepreneurs to enable them to own homes.

He said this scheme has also been improved where the funding guarantee limit has been increased from RM300,000 to RM400,000 which includes legal fees and property valuation fees.

He explained that several initiatives have been taken to promote this programme to the targeted group such as joint promotion between SJKP and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government under the iBiaya programme in addition to promoting the scheme through mass and electronic media and billboards from time to time.

“SJKP is involved in the Jelajah Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia programme which covers every state.

“There is also close cooperation between stakeholders such as financial institutions and developers for the purpose of joint promotion and approval of financing applications under the Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme,” he said.

He added that the government is always committed to introduce various initiatives to help all groups, especially the B40 group, to own homes.