1. First-time housebuyer? Lucky you…
You must be feeling nervous if this is your first time buying this kind of a big purchase. But, no worries, there’s a leeway than gahmen has put aside for you.
If your first home is worth no more than RM500,000, you’ll get full stamp duty exemption (yay!). Do note that the exemption is only for transfer of ownership document and loan agreement for the purchase agreement starting from January 2021 to December 2025.
In short, you’ll be paying the house at a discounted price. Isn’t that great? So, if you’ve already found your dream home - wait a minute first as you don’t want to miss this perk. Let’s just say if your house is RM500,000, the stamp duty alone will cost you RM11,250!
Don’t believe us? You may try our ‘Home Loan & Stamp Duty Calculator’ tool to test it out.
ALSO READ: HOC 2020: Get 10% Discounts & Free Stamp Duty When You Buy a House
2. Say no more to abandoned housing developments
According to The Sun Daily, there are a total of 73,959 private housing units that have been abandoned since 2009 in Peninsular Malaysia. Just imagine - we haven’t even included the numbers of abandoned public housing units in the same place. What about the ones in Sabah and Sarawak?
To help solve this, gahmen pun decides to continue the stamp duty exemption for the next 5 years (2021 - 2025) on loan agreement and transfer instruments. Unfortunately kan, this is only applicable for:
- Rescue contractors and original buyers of abandoned houses
- Abandoned housing projects that have been approved by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT)
Let’s hope that with this, developers would take it as an opportunity to work together with our gahmen to solve the issue. Gahmen, new developers and even buyers - we all get something from it. Everybody wins!
P/s: It’s good to check the credibility of the property developers first before you decide on anything. Read this article to know more.
3. Rent-to-Own (RTO) Scheme with… PR1MA?
Nothing much has been said about this initiative yet. During the tabling, gahmen only informs that they’ll collab with selected financial institutions to provide an RTO scheme. This programme will involve 5,000 PR1MA houses worth RM1 billion (bn). However, it's important to note that this initiative is only for first-time homebuyers.
In case you don’t know, RTO scheme works like this. A potential buyer rents the house first with an option to purchase it in the future. To make the process much easier, they’ll have to pay the monthly rent slightly higher than usual. So, when it’s time for them to buy, the purchase price will be reduced significantly.
4. Malay Reserve Land (MRL) to be developed commercially?
Here’s a fun fact. Do you know that Pelaburan Hartanah Berhad (PHB) has successfully developed a private hospital worth RM300 million (mn) on an MRL in Sungai Penchala?
Well, it turns out, the gahmen intends to optimise the value of MRL in strategic locations. That’s why the gahmen will provide RM750mn under the Twelfth Malaysia Plan (RMKe12) in the budget to increase the value of Bumiputera holdings in real estate especially for commercial developments on MRL.
Without a doubt, this development will surely benefit Malaysians close to the area. Perhaps more job opportunities for them in the future. Not to mention, it’ll hike up the prices of neighbouring land as well!
5. More house options for the lower-income group!
Over the years, we can see that our gahmen has put more focus on ensuring that lower-income families or B40 group can have their own homes (homeownership). This year’s budget proves no different - gahmen has proposed several initiatives on this.
Here are the initiatives:
- RM1.2bn for the provision of homes for low-income homebuyers
- RM500mn for 14,000 units of the People’s Housing Programme/ Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR)
- RM315mn for 3,000 units of Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR) by Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB)
- RM125mn to repair dilapidated low-cost homes
- RM310mn for Program Perumahan Penjawat Awam Malaysia
ALSO READ: 3 Reasons Why Affordable Housing in Malaysia Is So Hard to Get!
In all honesty, we can see that there are not many initiatives for the property sector this time around. Granted - the gahmen focus is more towards other pressing matters, as it should be with Covid-19 and all.
Anyway, what are your thoughts on these wins? Is it sufficient enough? Let us know in the comment section here!
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