Most civil servants cannot afford to own homes

Forty-five per cent or 650,000 of the 1.5 million civil servants are still unable to own a house due to the price factor, said the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs).

Its president, Datuk Omar Osman said a study carried out by the congress recently showed that the increasing price of houses posed the main obstacle in achieving this dream.

He said that generally, civil servants who were still unable to buy a house were those in the support group and earning low income, compared to those above 40 years old who were on a higher grade and had served more than 20 years who could buy their own home.

"This 45 per cent group is forced to continue to rent or stay in quarters and must give priority to the cost of living," he told Bernama.

Omar was also worried about the implication from this situation if it was not tackled properly.

"One implication is that if they buy a house at a late age, it will mean that they will take a longer time to settle the loan.

"It means that they will use up all their savings and pension which is supposed to be used for old age to pay back the loan. Their life after retirement will continue to be hampered by debts," he said.

In fact, he said, applying for the 1Malaysia Public Housing Scheme (PR1MA) was beyond their reach because PR1MA houses which could reach RM250,000 were outside the price range for civil servants.

Thus, he said, Cuepacs urged the government to study the issue and proposed that the National Housing Department provided medium-cost houses for civil servants.

"As far as possible, the houses should cost below RM250,000. I hope the government can study this issue seriously," he added.