Insufficient income and high debt among reasons people can't afford houses

KUALA LUMPUR - Insufficient income and having a high debts are among the factors why most people in this country cannot afford to own a house.

Local Government Development Deputy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the findings were from 'Highlights: The Inability to own a house' published by Bank Negara Malaysia.

He said people also could not afford to own a house because of the Compound Annual Growth Rate (2014 to 2020) which showed an increase in house prices by 4.1 per cent.

The increase, he said, was higher compared to the rate of increase in wages which only increased to 2.1 per cent.

"In an effort to help first-time homebuyers, the Local Government Development Ministry (KPKT) has implemented initiatives such as launching the Malaysian Housing Financing Initiative (i-Biaya) in collaboration with Finance Ministry.

"One of the initiatives under i-Biaya is the Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme (SJKP) which is a housing finance plan for people with no fixed income or economic groups where they don't have to pay an advance for loans.

"KPKT had also announced i-Miliki initiative which included granting stamp duty exemption incentives on assignment deeds and loan contracts for first house purchases worth up to RM1 million," he told the Dewan Rakyat here today.

He said so when answering a question from Onn Abu Bakar (PH - Batu Pahat) who asked about the ministry's effort to curb the issue of house prices that have been increasing.

He added that the government also implemented several other measures to ensure house prices were controlled and affordable.

Among them was by introducing the National Affordable Housing Policy (DRMM) and to implement the mapping of the Affordable Housing Index.

In addition, the government have also encouraged developers to carry out a feasibility study before starting any development project.