PROPERTY crowdfunding scheme FundMyHome will not burden taxpayers as it does not involve government funding, EdgeProp Sdn Bhd chairman Tong Kooi Ong said in a response to former prime minister Najib Razak today.

Tong said it currently did not require regulatory approval as its financing scheme was only open to institutions.

“Let me stress that this initiative came from the private sector and will not require any government funding, concessions, or guarantees, as you had insinuated in your Facebook post,” Tong said in a statement published in The EdgeProp website.

Najib had earlier questioned the speed at which FundMyHome was launched, two days after it was announced in the tabling of Budget 2019.

The former prime minister said this indicated that certain private sector parties knew ahead of time that the scheme would be included in the budget.

Tong said EdgeProp was indeed the initiator of the idea.

“We have thought long and hard in the past few years about finding a solution to help Malaysians, especially those with young families, who desire to own a home of their own instead of renting.

“After crystallising our idea, we took it to the government and have been engaging the various regulators in the past several months, culminating in having the idea included when the budget was tabled in Parliament on November 2.”

Tong said the scheme would be seeking retail public participation as investors, and this would require regulatory approval which EdgeProp was working to accomplish by the first quarter of next year.

FundMyHome promises one million affordable houses in the next 10 years, with purchasing help from the scheme.

Private developers will mostly build the house and buyers need to pay only 20% of the property price, while the balance is contributed by participating institutions.

These institutions get a share of future profits if the home appreciates.

After five years, the buyer can opt to sell the house or remain by refinancing the home using the FundMyHome scheme or a normal bank mortgage.

Tong also said he was looking forward to reading Najib’s concerns that the scheme would not benefit the people and was willing to discuss them. – November 8, 2018.