Johor steps up housing aid as families struggle with costs

JOHOR BARU: More than 21,000 Johoreans have received RM84.19 million in assistance to buy, rent or move into homes under the state's Bantuan Perumahan Kasih Johor (BKJ) programme.

State Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said 6,110 recipients received RM24.2 million under the programme's sixth phase at an event held at Arena Larkin yesterday.

He said each application represented a family seeking to ease its financial burden.

"Johor will continue strengthening housing assistance to ease the burden on homebuyers and tenants," he said.

The latest phase covered homebuyers, tenants and those moving into new homes, with assistance ranging from RM2,000 to RM5,000 per recipient.

Jafni said Johor had completed 25,791 affordable housing units by the third quarter of this year, against its target of 30,000 units for 2022 to 2026.

The state aims to provide 100,000 affordable homes by 2030, including 70,000 additional units.

He said applications had been unsuccessful for various reasons, including incomplete documents, issues involving sale and purchase agreements or key handover dates, existing home ownership and failure to meet eligibility requirements.

The state would also improve the application process to make it easier for eligible residents to obtain assistance, he added.