New housing policy aims to ease loan approvals

PETALING JAYA (Aug 13): The new National Housing Policy which is due to be announced in the next month or two aims to ease loan approvals for prospective home buyers, reported The Sun.

"The government acknowledges that the ability of the rakyat to purchase properties very much depends on their access to financing, which at the moment is hampered by the banks' strict lending policies," said Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad yesterday (Aug 12).

He added that his ministry is currently working with Bank Negara Malaysia to make approvals for housing loans easier.

"We look forward to be the bearer of good news soon when the final proposal is ready, In the next one or two months the new housing policy will be announced and we hope there will be more good news especially for those looking to buy their first home," he added, declining to say more.

The deputy minister also expected property prices to be cheaper due to lower input costs arising from the scrapping of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the new Sales and Services Tax (SST) that will come into force next month.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had earlier announced that building materials and construction services would be exempted from the SST.

"With the proposed exemption of goods from SST and the difference in GST (Goods and Services Tax) implementation, I hope both the developers and the buyers can benefit from the reduction of this tax burden," he said.