i-Biaya Provides Gig Economy Workers the Opportunity to Own a Home

By Michelle Liew

The Malaysian Housing Financing (i-Biaya) initiative under the Home Ownership Program (HOPE) provides opportunities for youths, especially gig economy workers to own a home.

Deputy Secretary-General (Housing and Community Welfare) of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Datuk Azhar Ahmad said the initiative offered access to financing through Cagamas Berhad, the Housing Credit Guarantee Company (SJKP) and a rental to buy scheme with PR1MA.

He said that financing through Cagamas Berhad and SJKP is flexible without having to submit a salary statement which is usually the main condition in the home ownership process.

In the current situation, many youths are involved in the gig economy or are self-employed, with no fixed income and salary statement, unlike those who work in the public or private sector. They cannot provide monthly salary statements for the banks, so to address this issue, the government launched this i-Biaya scheme.”

Under this scheme, there are Cagamas Berhad and SJKP which are flexible. If there is no salary statement, monthly commitments such as electricity bills, telephone bills or online purchases will be considered if their payment record is good. This can be considered as supporting qualification that one can afford to pay (for the house),” he said.

He said this while being a guest on the Ruang Bicara program entitled ‘HOPE: Towards Realizing the Aspirations of 1 Family, 1 Guest House’ published by Bernama TV on Tuesday.

Commenting further, Azhar said this financial initiatie/assistance offered will be able to cover the financing to pay for the house deposit.

This is because we know that young people, for example, if they want to buy a house worth RM250,000, a deposit must be provided with a lawyer’s fee and so on, about RM25,000 can be included in their housing financing,” he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on July 15 launched the HOPE program and the Let’s Buy a House Carnival at the Mid Valley Exhibition Center, which not only helped promote housing for all walks of life but also to look at the housing sector ecosystem holistically.