Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced two policy changes to enable more people to own a house under the 1Malaysia People's Housing (PR1MA) programme.

Najib said the two changes to the PR1MA policy were raising the eligibility level for households from an income level of RM10,000 to RM15,000, and shortening the moratorium on house sale and rental from 10 years to 5 years.

"The increase in income level to RM15,000 is to enable more people to be eligible to own a PR1MA house, apart from shortening the moratorium period.

At a press conference held at PR1MA Residency Puteri Jaya 1, he said, "These are all measures taken by the government which is very committed to enabling people, especially the target group, to own a PR1MA house".

Najib said at the same time, the price of PR1MA houses remained unchanged, at 20% less than the current market price.

"I see here that the price of the PR1MA model house is at RM270,000 compared to RM470,000 for an almost similar house offered out there (by the private sector)," he noted.

Najib said what was important was that with these government measures, people would be able to own property through wealth distribution, by purchasing a house they desired.

"I stress that people will be able to own bigger assets and that the government is very committed to enabling people to own a house of their desire," he said.

Najib was also happy with the measure taken by PR1MA to ease the application process for a house through the one-stop approach.

"Here, the applicants can choose a house lot, apply for a loan and get legal advice under one roof, and this measure saves a lot of time and energy," he said.

He said the government targeted 500,000 PR1MA units to be built by PR1MA Corporation Malaysia.