Banks should consider providing full housing loans to homebuyers - particularly first-timers - to help tackle the problem of end-financing. Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar lamented that banks do not offer loans on the entire value of a house, providing only between 70 to 80 per cent instead, as reported in New Straits Times.

He questioned why it is so difficult for banks to give full loans, even when there are many houses that have been completed but remain unsold due to end-financing issues and loan rejection.

"It would be difficult for people to cough up the remaining 20 per cent. "Even a house costing RM300,000 would be expensive, as the buyer would be required to come up with RM60,000.

"How to get a home without a 20 per cent down payment?” Noh said when launching the Malaysia Property Exposition (Mapex) by the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda) at Mid Valley Exhibition Centre (MVEC) on Saturday, Oct 22.

Present were Rehda president Datuk Seri FD Iskandar and chairman of the Mapex committee, Datuk Ng Seing Liong. Noh said the banks must complement efforts by the government in implementing various schemes to help people cover a down payment or get a more affordable loan so that they can buy their first home.

These include schemes such as MyDeposit and MyHome, which offer incentives of up to RM30,000 per home, benefiting home buyers and housing developers.

In expressing regret over the lack of participation by banks at Mapex this year, Noh said they should work together with Rehda's 1,400 members and come up with creative solutions on how to help more people get on the property ladder.

"I also want to encourage housing developers to build their houses first and sell them later, a concept which has only been agreed on by a mere 14 housing developers," he said.

Noh pointed out that the government is already going the extra mile to help the people by implementing a ‘transit home' programme in urban areas with access to public transportation.

Under the programme, eligible applicants will be able to occupy studio units for a five-year period at rents lower than market rates.

He said the government has also spent some RM202 million to rescue abandoned and delayed projects. Noh revealed that between 2009 to August this year, there were 206 such cases.