What Budget 2025 Means for Home Buyers and the Property Market

With Malaysia's biggest-ever federal spending plan of RM421 billion, Budget 2025 focuses on improving people’s lives, including making housing more affordable. Here’s what home buyers and the property market can expect from the new budget:

Help for First-Time Home Buyers

Budget 2025 allocates RM10 billion for the Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme (HCGS), which helps first-time home buyers secure loans of up to RM500,000. This will allow over 20,000 Malaysians to get government-backed loans to buy homes. The scheme covers the purchase of new and existing homes, including those sold at auction. Previously, the maximum loan was RM300,000, so this increase is a big boost for first-time buyers.

Tax Relief for Property Buyers

To make it easier to buy a home, the government is offering tax relief for people who buy residential properties between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2027. The relief will help reduce the amount of tax home buyers pay, depending on the property price:

• Up to RM500,000: Tax relief of up to RM7,000.
• RM500,000 - RM750,000: Tax relief of up to RM5,000.

This will help first-time buyers afford a home and boost demand in the property market.

Affordable Housing Projects

To tackle the rising cost of homes, Budget 2025 sets aside money for more affordable housing. RM900 million will fund 48 People’s Residency Programs (PRR) and 14 Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR) projects across Malaysia, including developments in Port Dickson and Seberang Perai Tengah. By the end of 2025, 30 PRRs will be completed, providing homes for almost 17,500 people.

The government is also investing in affordable housing on wakaf land, with RM300 million allocated to KWAP and RM200 million to UDA Holdings Bhd to develop these homes. Civil servants will also be supported with home financing options for these properties.

More Help for Public Housing

The budget also increases the assistance for building and maintaining public housing. For example, RM200 million is allocated to upgrade low and medium-cost public strata homes, including replacing old elevators in People’s Housing Projects (PPRs). Additionally, RM84 million will go towards improving basic facilities in Chinese New Villages, and almost RM100 million will be spent on upgrading 48 public parks to provide better recreational spaces for communities.

Support for Rural Communities

In another initiative, RM10 million will be provided to NGOs and Jakoa to build homes for the Orang Asli communities, helping them access basic services like electricity and clean water more quickly and affordably.

Summary

In short, Budget 2025 focuses on making homeownership easier for Malaysians, especially first-time buyers, through financial support like government-backed loans, tax relief, and affordable housing projects. With these initiatives, the government aims to make housing more accessible and improve the living conditions of Malaysians across the country.