Former Selangor menteri besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim finds the people being too eager to paint negative the proposal to allow developers to offer housing loans to buyers, arguing that the proposal provides a solution to buyers unable to borrow from banks.

"I think the proposal received too negative a response from all quarters," Khalid said in a Facebook posting, commenting on the proposal by Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar.

"While I don't think the minister has studied the implications of his proposal, we must admit that it would present a solution to the difficulty of buyers to get loans from banks and finance companies," he wrote.

The dilemma over housing loans, Khalid said, is the same problem faced by those who want to purchase low-cost and affordable houses.

He recalled the same problem when he was Selangor MB and tried to solve the issue on how to ensure that those who qualify to apply for low-cost and affordable housing can also get loan facilities.

Unfortunately, what is often the case, he said, is that the two qualifications are not in tandem with each other.

State then offered to be guarantor

The state government's solution then was for the state to become guarantor for the bank loans of all those who qualify to purchase affordable and lost-cost houses.

However, the former MB said, banks had trouble getting Bank Negara approval for this, which torpedoed the state’s solution out of the water.

"As such, I call upon all those involved to return to the core problem preventinging low income earners from owning houses. A holistic discussion must be done urgently, taking into account possible implementation, effects, barriers as well as improvements (if any) for the idea proposed by the minister.

"I believe that it is best for all parties to pool their energies and expertise to solve the conundrum plaguing the lower income rakyat and illegal squatters who cannot purchase houses, rather than issuing negative statements without their own proposal to add value and contribute to a final solution," Khalid said.

Noh Omar revealed last week that his ministry has issued moneylending licences to selected developers to give an option to buyers to finance their property purchases through the developers, if not through the usual bank loans.

The move has earned him brickbats from both sides of the aisle, with criticisms rained down on the plan, which is set to be presented to the cabinet for approval today.