Rehda calls on government not to raise compliance cost

The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) is calling upon the government not to raise the compliance cost such as the premium for the conversion of land use conditions, under Budget 2015, to be unveiled Friday.

Its president Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor said it might be necessary in order to address the cost of housing construction and increase in house prices at the moment.

"Other expectations for the budget is that residential properties below RM500,000 are exempted from the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"It will also encourage the construction of affordable housing by developers, especially in Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang," he told Bernama.

He said, Rehda also hoped the government re-introduces the Developer Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS), whereby the developer will pay the interest charges on the loan for the purchasers during the construction of the property.

Meanwhile, Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) deputy president Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman, said consumers had limited power in dealing with the problem of rising house prices at present.

"There is not much consumers can do, because consumers usually depend on government policies, for instance, if there are affordable homes built by the government, this will give a choice to consumers," he said.

Therefore, he said Budget 2015 should focus on the construction of more affordable housing in addition to the improvement of existing public facilities including health, education and public transport.

Mohd Yusof also suggested that the government increases the allocations under the 'Rent to Buy' scheme to accommodate those who want to buy houses.

"Through the scheme, those whose loan applications to purchase a house are rejected by banks just have to pay the rent, and within the next 20 to 30 years, the house will be theirs," he added.