Rehda: A homebuyer-friendly budget

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 6): Budget 2021 has offered various incentives that could further uplift the industry and assist homebuyers to find their dream home, said Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) Malaysia president Datuk Soam Heng Choon (pictured).

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In a media release in response to the Budget 2021 announced this evening, Rehda lauded the incentives and moves initiative by the government, which include stamp duties exemption on Memorandum of Transfer (MOT) and Loan agreement for first residential home priced at RM500,000 and below, and white knight contractors and original purchases of abandoned projects; Rent-to-Own Scheme for 5,000 PR1MA Homes; and RM1.2 billion allocation for housing for the B40 group.

“Rehda welcomes the [stamp duty exemption for first residential home] as part of the government’s initiative to encourage homeownership amongst the Rakyat, which was also our Budget Wish list to the government.

“With the expansion from the earlier RM300,000 houses to RM500,000 for a period of five years, we believed that the stamp duty waivers will benefit a lot of Malaysians who find it hard-pressed to own a house, particularly those in the B40 and M40 groups,” said Soam.

Meanwhile, for stamp duty exemption on loan agreements and MOT given to rescuing contractors and the original house purchasers which is extended for another five years, Soam believes this incentive will give peace of mind to those purchasers who have been severely affected when the units they bought were abandoned.

“Similarly, the stamp duty waiver for the white knights is hoped to encourage more contractors to come in and rescue abandoned units which eventually will realise the dreams of home buyers to have their own homes,” he shared.

Meanwhile, the association also welcomes the expansion of the Rent-to-Own scheme, which will help those who are not ready to purchase, especially when they have just started working.

“We have on many occasions called for the government to introduce a Rent-to-Own scheme. Thus, we laud the announcement for the introduction of the scheme with selected financial institutions. However, we hope that the programme can be extended to more than just the 5,000 units of PR1MA homes, whereby purchasers in the open market can also benefit from the scheme,” he noted.

Rehda is also in support of all measures undertaken by the government to provide social housing for the B40 group.
“We believe that the various recipients of this allocation namely Program Perumahan Rakyat, Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad’s Rumah Mesra Rakyat and Program Perumahan Penjawat Awam Malaysia will provide the much-needed relief for those in need.

“We thank the Government for including our proposals in this Budget 2021, which signifies their commitment to listen to industry players, the Rakyat and our plights.

“We believe the allocation will also benefit the other 200 other downstream and upstream sectors and the people behind them,” Soam concluded.

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