KUCHING: Young people in the state are urged to own their own house as soon as possible.
Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian said it was to achieve the government’s desire to help individuals to purchase their own house.
“The government of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is committed in helping young people to get their first home of their own.
“A sum of RM10,000 has been allocated to those who want to get a first home for a house under the price of RM300,000.
“However, the acceptance of the initiative is relatively low with only 672 successful applications. Therefore, I call on young people to try to get their own house in the near future,” he said in his speech during the official launching of The Rise Residence at Vivacity Megamall here today.
He said the statistics as of 2020 showed that around 184,000 houses were unoccupied out of a total of 821,500 housing units.
“This is likely due to factors involving relocation and others. For the 184,000 houses, it is unoccupied perhaps due to rural-to-urban migration, which often happen nowadays.
“Another factor that also causes the matter is due to some people buying more than a house and let it unoccupied,” he added.
Therefore, he said, various efforts were made to help in terms of the schemes provided.
“The Sarawak government under the leadership of Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg is always committed to address the challenges faced by the people to own a house,” he explained.