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For sale: A total of 2,844 units at PPR Kg Muhibbah have been offered.
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Many concerned parties have come up with ways to help the PPR low-cost flats residents own a house. But after speaking to some of the residents, StarMetro believes a long-term and conclusive solution cannot be found by merely focusing on the financing aspect.
TO RESOLVE the ownership issue of the PPR (government housing projects) low-cost flats, it may not be as simple as providing the eligible buyers with feasible schemes judging by the attitude and sentiments of some of the residents.
While it is true that a sizeable number of applicants are simply unable to secure bank loans due to their financial standing, there are also those who despite their eligible status, refuse to take up the offers for reasons of their own.
A resident who did not wish to reveal his name told StarMetro that he was waiting for the government to offer the units for free.
“I have not paid a single month’s rent since I moved into a PPR. I received an offer letter to buy the unit I am currently renting but I will not buy it,’’ he said.
Others who refused the offers to buy said they were in no hurry to buy their units since there is no deadline set in the offer letter.
On his 100th day in office on July 11 last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that 44,146 units of the PPR low-cost flats were up for sale and the memorandum by the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry on the issue was approved on Aug 12 last year.
Since the offer was made, some 18,201 offer letters have been sent out to eligible buyers.
Of the 11,499 who responded, fewer than 2,000 have bought the units.
Lamenting the abortion of a hire-purchase scheme mooted in 2008 for eligible buyers, many residents who have received the offer letters cited their inability to secure bank loans as the main reason for not wanting to buy the units.
But the lackadaisical attitude of some residents show that financing is not the only issue that stands in the way of the residents who want to own a house. Complicated as it may be, there are at least three basic issues that need to be addressed before a win-win situation can be created to pave the way for these needy people to achieve their goals.
To begin with, the absence of a specific deadline for the residents to take up the offers means that there is no urgency on the part of the residents to seal their deals. As far as the residents are concerned, they can continue to rent and life goes on. This leads to the second issue of rental payment and collection.
The laxity in rent collection has proven to be a disincentive for some of the residents to show a keen interest in owning the units.
Any financial scheme introduced by the government would mean that they have to fork out a monthly amount that is higher than the RM124 rental that they are paying now. The situation is made worse by the fact that the resident can still have a place to sleep comfortably even if he fails to pay the monthly rent.
One resident, who owes City Hall about RM7,000 in rental, spoke on condition of anonymity: “I have not paid for years and they (DBKL) will never kick me out.’’
The resident is from PPR Kg Muhibbah.
“DBKL offered me a unit on condition that I pay up all the rental owed to them. But why should I? It has been free all along and why would I want to take a loan and buy it now,’’ he added.
According to a senior official from DBKL, there are many special cases concerning disabled people, single mothers and elderly folk who have problems coming up with the monthly rent of RM124 but there are also recalcitrant tenants who simply refuse to pay up.
“Every time we plan to act against anyone who owes us outstanding rental, our efforts to recover arrears is hampered by political interference,’’ said the official.
The official added that though DBKL would not allow the culprits to get away and would not hesitate to take them to court, this issue shows not only the negative attitude adopted by some residents but also highlights the fact that the government would not have an easy time seeing the project through, and as such, the taxpayers will continue to bear the brunt, no matter how insignificant it may be.
It was reported in the press in May last year that over RM30mil in unpaid rental since the 1980’s was owed to DBKL. This may be relatively small compared with the over RM65mil in rental the government stands to collect each year but signs that the situation is worsening are there. For the first half of last year alone, about RM1.6mil in rental was owed to DBKL.
The other issue that cannot be overlooked is maintenance fees. Unlike the issue of rents, which will be resolved once the PPR units are sold, the issue of maintenance fees will remain as long as the flats are in existence.
According to DBKL’s Budget 2009, revenue from rental of PPR units was estimated at RM65mil while the maintenance cost was RM115mil. These figures roughly tally with those provided by a source from City Hall.
“It costs DBKL more money to maintain the units than earning by renting them out. The rental per unit is RM124 while it costs us RM250 to RM300 to maintain one unit per month,’’ said the source.
At present, a resident who has purchased his unit only has to pay RM45 as maintenance fees. That would mean DBKL has to make up the shortfall of between RM205 and RM255. While that may not be an issue while the buyer of the unit serves out his repayment tenure, the crunch for DBKL would come when the buyer completes his repayment, which may take 20 to 25 years.
Perhaps the government should consider giving away the units free to the residents — on condition that they have to bear all the costs of maintaining the building. That would free DBKL of one huge burden and educate the residents on responsibility.
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