KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 13): The Real Estate and Housing Development Association Institute (Rehda Institute) is proposing for the government to set up a residential Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) to provide rental public housing for the B40 group, as an alternative solution to home ownership. 

Referring to the recently-announced FundMyHome scheme, REHDA Institute Chairman, Datuk Jeffrey Ng, said while it aims to increase home ownership, the B40 may not even be able to pay the required 20% downpayment.
 
“Based on our research, the B40 group earning less than RM 2,300 a month, it is clear that the majority of this group may not be able to buy homes. REHDA is proposing that a core segment of this group can only rent through the REIT’s developments” Ng said in his opening speech at the Asian Tiger: A New Journey Budget 2019 Commentary conference organised by the institute. 

Based on a study conducted by Rehda, he said the proposed residential REIT would require 4,100 acres of land, of which the government would build 1 million high rise units. This would cost the government an estimated RM220 billion over a period of 10 years (two government terms). 

Ng, who is also Chairman of the Malaysian REITs Managers Association (MRMA), said MRMA, together with Rehda Institute, will formalise the whole process. 

“Once we have formalized it, then we will be making submissions to the two ministries, Housing and Finance. If they are agreeable, then the next step is to go to Securities Commission,” he said. 

Under the FundMyHome scheme, buyers pay just 20% of the purchase price to secure their home, with the remaining 80% raised from institutions.