PETALING JAYA: A newly launched foundation is aiming to help at least 1,000 low-income persons who are blacklisted to own their first home within the first year.

       Yayasan My First Home (YMFH) chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan said one of the foundation’s aims was to ensure that as many people as possible had access to owning a house, especially those in the bottom 40% income group (B40).

       “Owning a home should be a basic right. Unfortunately for many (people), it is not as housing costs have risen faster than incomes.

       “Affordability and access to finance is another key issue as many people cannot get loans since they have been blacklisted. These are the people the foundation will try to assist,” he said in his speech at the launching of the event yesterday.

       The Better Malaysia Foundation, of which Tan is also the chairman, has pledged to contribute RM5mil as an initial donation for it to commence the initiative.

       “For many B40 households, debt is a crippling challenge which can prevent access to financial support if an individual is blacklisted.

       “Yayasan My First Home aims to understand these challenges better so that we can identify means of helping these individuals,” he said, adding that it would start with at least 1,000 people in the first year.

       “We would like to invite businesses, government bodies, NGOs, and the public to join Yayasan My First Home in its efforts and facilitate much needed solutions which will help increase home ownership in our country,” he added.

       The foundation’s trustee Datin Seri Sunita Mei-Lin Rajakumar, in her welcoming speech, said YMFH aimed to become a centrepoint and facilitator between the B40 communities and relevant parties in their quest to own a house.

       “We will also create a database comprising the eligible households, while providing financial assistance to them, as well as research and development on home ownership for the B40 community,” she added.

       The event at Berjaya Times Square Hotel in Kuala Lumpur was graced by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah.

       It was also attended by Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, several senior civil servants, members of the diplomatic corps, as well as representatives from various NGOs and relevant government departments.