Selangor has the highest number of applicants for My First Home Scheme. This scheme is launched to help people in the low income category to own their first house. Limit of the house prices has been raised to RM400,000 from RM220,000.
Any house ownership scheme must be supported by the long term plan that will increase the average income of the rakyat ( population ) through productivity. This is to be achieved with long term planning on the education system, investment in human capital and specialisation ( attraction ) of certain industries that produce value-added components. No increase in income or salary can be sustained without corresponding increase in productivity.
As I have remarked earlier, nobody gets to own what he cannot afford. Buying a house does not just involved paying the 10% deposit, we are talking about having to pay the house installment every month without fail for the next 20 to 30 years. Any attempt to help out in the commitment of deposit must also consider the obligation of making subsequent monthly installment in owning a house with mortgage. Buying a house and keeping the house are two different things.
Problem of affordability in house ownership cannot be solved with subsidy or attempts to make things easy in regard to deposit requirement. The saying - Give the man a fish, he eats today: Teach him how to fish, he eats everyday - should be the guide in the planning of house ownership scheme or policy. Any policy short of this follow-through planning is like giving the man a fish to eat when he is hungry. But he needs to eat everyday ( pay house installment every month ), can you give him a fish everyday ( sudsidise him every month )? No government in the world can do this. Some who tried are now in deep trouble.
The government have to solve this by increasing the earning capacity of the rakyat. The rakyat must be equipped with skill and knowledge to meet the challenge of an ever increasing cost of living which is a certainty. And this has to come from moving up the value chain so that the rakyat can get to earn more.
My First Home Scheme - which do away with the 10% deposit. How effective this scheme and other schemes with the same approach are in helping the middle and low income group to own their first house?
