Malaysian real estate stakeholders urge the government to reintroduce the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) in Budget 2024, citing its success in promoting home ownership and affordability through financial incentives.
KUALA LUMPUR, 10 Oct 2023 – Real estate stakeholders in Malaysia are eagerly awaiting Budget 2024, hoping for additional measures that will support developers, empower homeowners, and fortify the middle class, with a particular emphasis on enhancing housing affordability.
At the forefront of their agenda is the reinstatement of the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC). The HOC was a government initiative designed to assist prospective homebuyers while simultaneously stimulating the sale of unsold properties within Malaysia’s housing market.
This campaign, executed in collaboration with property developers, facilitated potential buyers in finding suitable properties ranging from RM300,000 to RM2.5 million. However, the real value for prospective buyers lay in the financial incentives offered as part of this program.
Incentives included a stamp duty exemption on transfer instruments and loan agreements for residential properties priced between RM300,000 and RM2.5 million (subject to at least a 10% discount offered by the developer). Some developers even extended discounts of up to 40% on their properties.
The exemption on transfer instrument duties was applicable to the first RM1 million of the property price, while a full stamp duty exemption was granted for loan agreements signed between June 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021.
With an increasing desire for homeownership among Malaysians, especially in bustling urban areas, the HOC initiative aimed to connect aspiring homeowners with the abundant vacant properties.
The HOC was launched on January 1, 2019, and saw multiple extensions before concluding on December 31, 2021.
According to data from the National Property Information Centre (Napic), Malaysia’s residential overhang at the beginning of the HOC stood at 31,661 units.
Kashif Ansari, co-founder and group CEO of Juwai IQI, noted that the situation has improved. The latest figures reveal that the HOC has enabled families to save RM15.8 billion, compared to what they would have paid otherwise, for 117,538 HOC homes. “Total HOC sales reached RM92.5 billion as of July 2022. By any measure, HOC has been a success and has assisted over 100,000 families in their journey toward financial independence,” Kashif stated.
Tan Sri Lim Hock San, executive chairman of LBS Bina Group Bhd, also hopes for the government’s reconsideration of the HOC. Lim emphasized that the HOC’s effectiveness from 2019 to 2021 was well-documented. Therefore, its reinstatement could stimulate demand, promote homeownership, and offer increased options and affordability for potential buyers.
