Maybank Islamic’s RTO programme is now open to public

PETALING JAYA (Jan 16): Maybank Islamic Bhd’s HouzKEY, Malaysia’s first bank-initiated rent-to-own (RTO) scheme, opened to the public on Jan 15.

According to Maybank Islamic, the public can now browse through a range of properties via HouzKEY’s portal www.maybank2own.com.

Currently, HouzKEY has 12 participating property developers including Eco World Development Group Bhd, S P Setia Bhd, Mah Sing Group Bhd, Sime Darby Property Bhd, Gamuda Land, UEM Sunrise Bhd, Selangor Dredging Bhd and Mitraland Group Sdn Bhd.

Seven more property developers are expected to be added into the scheme by the month end.

Maybank Islamic CEO Datuk Mohamed Rafique Merican said that the bank will continue to focus on creating more innovative syariah-compliant solutions and developing products and services leveraging Maybank Group’s strength and expertise in Islamic finance.

“We are constantly looking at introducing products that offer better value proposition to our customers. HouzKEY promotes financial inclusion by offering an alternative path to homeownership. We take pride that it is the first of such product offering in the market,” he said.

HouzKEY is an alternative solution to homeownership via RTO scheme that only requires three months’ rental deposit and the potential homebuyer can move into the home immediately.

The individual will be given an option to purchase the property after a minimum of one year renting tenure at a pre-determined price.

Maybank Islamic noted that HouzKEY is also the first RTO homeowership plan in Malaysia that is fully enabled on a digital platform, where application and submission of supporting documents are made online.

After an application to rent a home is submitted, the bank will provide feedback on the application status within 24 hours of a working day, and if successful, the individual will then have to pay the three months’ rental deposit in seven days.

Upon signing the agreement, the property will be locked in at a fixed rental rate for five years and the individual can migrate to Maybank’s mortgage seamless after a minimum of one year renting or continue renting with a 2% step-up on the rental rate on the sixth year of the rental tenure until the tenure ends.

The maximum rental tenure is 30 years.

Mohamed Rafique added that HouzKEY is Maybank’s solution to the current challenge of homeownership and also the financial institution’s way of supporting Malaysia’s national agenda on homeownership.

HouzKEY was first launched to Maybank Group’s employees on Nov 23, 2017 and since then, the portal has garnered about 13,000 visits where 2,000 individuals have expressed interest on the RTO scheme.

“Close to 70% of them are from the target age group of between 25 and 34 years old,” added Maybank Islamic.