Rent-to-own scheme helps M'sians to own homes: Hajiji

KOTA KINABALU: The rent-to-own concept which has been introduced under the People Housing Projects (PPR) in Sabah from this year is aimed at providing an opportunity for the lower-income bracket to own homes, according to Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said the concept was one of the measures by the state government to help ease the burden of the people as they did not have to apply for bank loans but only pay the rental whereby eventually, the properties would become their own.
"They only need to pay the rental rate as stipulated by the (state) government and after that, within a certain period of time, they will become the owners of the units occupied," he told reporters after a live interview on TVOKEY in the "Bah! Apa Cerita?" programme here last night.
Hajiji also said the scheme was one of the ways to address squatter problems in the state due to the migration of rural people to urban areas.
According to Hajiji, the project would initially be implemented at the Batu Sapi and Batu Putih PPRs in Sandakan involving 180 and 900 units, respectively.
"This is what is called the efforts by the Barisan Nasional-led government to help our people especially those in the lower-income bracket.
"The scheme will continue (to be implemented) statewide as it is the government's policy to help our people who are not eligible for loans to own homes," he added. — Bernama