AFTER working at a local publishing company in Kota Kinabalu for 30 years, Matzin Ramli, 54, has given up trying to buy a house in the Sabah capital. 

One of thousands of Sabahan rurals who had migrated to the city in search of work in the 1990s, Matzin lives with his wife and their four children in a 55sq m government housing flat

“I’ve always wanted to buy a home. But owning one is beyond my means. I’ve tried to apply for a housing loan twice, once in 2000 and again in 2005. Both times, they indicated that I did not qualify for a  loan,” he told The Malaysian Insight. 

The Rumah Pangsa Tanjung Aru units that Matzin and some 1,700 people call home are owned by the state Housing and Urban Development Board (LPPB) and are the oldest low-cost flats in the state. 

Sabah has 26,199 low-cost homes, the highest number of PPR housing in the country.

But Matzin’s adult sons may not get to enjoy government housing as many of the units have gone to the hundreds of thousands of people living in squatter or water villages in Sabah, following the state’s ongoing programme to have zero squatters by 2020. 

Their chances are further reduced as there are 18,538 PPR home applications on the waiting list, as of August,

“My eldest daughter has just moved out to live with her husband. Now it’s just myself, my wife, my two sons and youngest daughter who’s still in school,” said Matzin.

“Including the salaries of my sons –   one is a security guard and the other a general worker – both earning the minimum wage, the household income is still below RM4,000,” he said. 

In 2014, LPPB revised the rent for the units from RM150 to RM170 a month. 

Matzin’s family aren’t the only ones with a housing problem in Sabah. Many young Sabahans who cannot afford homes in the RM250,000 to RM350,000 price range are unable to to get a low cost house.

As a result, the average adult in Sabah is living with the parents until well into his or her 30s.

Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association Secretary General Ronnie Ang said the salary scale in Sabah was too low for the people to afford buying a home.

The minimum wage in Sabah and Sarawak is RM920 a month, and  RM1,000 in West Malaysia.

“Many of them are also bogged down with many commitments such as car instalments, hand phone bill, so that when they apply for a house loan, their applications are easily rejected,” he said. 

While developers enjoy a good booking rate from potential house buyers, as many as 80% of the housing loan applications can be rejected, Ang said. 

“The bank branches in Sabah only act make a recommendation, the decision to approve the loans is made in Kuala Lumpur, where the banks have their headquarters. 

“I feel it is a bit unfair as many of the officers in Peninsular Malaysia are not familiar with the conditions in Sabah,” he said. 

Under the state’s Myhome scheme, first-time home buyers are given up to RM30,000 as an incentive to pay up their deposits. 

Kinsabina Group CEO Francis Goh, whose company is involved in the Shareda-MLGH (Local Government and Housing Ministry) Myhome scheme project to build the Timbok Jaya apartments near Tuaran, said while there were many bookings for the units priced RM220,000 to RM250,000, almost as many had their loan applications rejected,

“We had 600 bookings for the 1,200 units for Timbok Jaya, but sadly 95% of them had their loan application rejected.

“Some of the applicants were debt-ridden,” said Goh.

Matzin recalled the two rejections for his applications. One was for a home in Kinarut priced at RM260,000 and the second was for a home in Ketiau, Putatan in the above RM300,000 price range.

“I remember going to the bank and seeing the officer got through my application, my pay slips. He told me straight off that my chances of getting a loan were slim.

“He said after settling my house loan, the bills and other commitment, I would only have too little to last me until the end of the month,” he said. –– November 27, 2017.