Malaysia’s home ownership campaign will soon offer only low-cost homes

Buyers prefer HOC units priced under MYR300,000

The Malaysian government is changing its approach toward promoting home ownership.

According to The Malaysian Reserve, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) will no longer include high-cost and mid-priced units under its Home Ownership Campaign (HOC). Instead, the campaign will fully offer low-cost units in keeping with actual demand.

The HOC, which has been extended to December, will concentrate on the delivery of affordable housing for the rest of the year. “This time, KPKT will focus 100 percent on offering affordable houses capped at MYR300,000 (USD73,000),” said Jayaselan Navaratnam, the ministry’s national housing department DG.

Under HOC, eligible Malaysian property seekers are given a range of incentives to buy their first homes. These include stamp duty exemptions and discounts of at least 10 percent.

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Despite these, the scheme has only moved 1,144 units to date. The country is still left with a glut of completed homes, standing at 32,313 units worth MYR19.86 billion as of the fourth quarter of 2018.

Around 88 percent of sales under HOC were units fetching prices below MYR300,000 and consisting mainly of units developed by Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia, known for offering as much as 30 percent discounts.

Around 6,000 residential units in this pricing range will be offered for the remaining duration of the campaign, Jayaselan said.