Gov’t Provides Housing Stimulus for Low-income People

Housig for low-income people. (Photo by: Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing)

In a bid to anticipate the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak to the economy, the Government through Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing has allocated Rp1.5 trillion of budget for housing subsidy as a fiscal stimulus for 175,000 low-income households through Mortgage Loans (KPR) process.

Director General for Infrastructure Financing of Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, Eko D. Heripoerwanto, said that the fiscal stimulus is provided through the allocation of budget for Interest Gap Subsidy (SSB). On the other hand, the Government will continue providing Down Payment Subsidy (SBUM) for KPR.

“The SSB and SBUM financing schemes shall apply on 1 April 2020 and will be managed by Implementing Banks cooperating with Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing. To date, 3 (three) banks have shown interest in becoming the implementing bank, they are BTN, BRI, and BRI. The Ministry welcomes other banks that are interested in the cooperation, so that low-income people can use all banking networks to get access to the housing subsidy,” Heri said in a virtual press conference on Tuesday (31/3).

He went on to say that the SSB and SBUM financing schemes are initiated once again since last year’s performance showed that the two schemes are well-received by the public compared with other schemes such as the Housing Financing Liquidity Facility (FLPP) and Mortgage-linked Down Payment Assistance (BP2BT).

The SSB allows low-income people to pay the KPR with only 5 percent of interest rate for 10 years. Meanwhile, the Government will pay the interest gap through subsidy.

“For those buying landed house, they will get Rp4 million, or Rp10 million for those living in Papua and West Papua Provinces, for paying some of KPR down payment from SBUM scheme,” he added.

To receive the subsidy, a person must meets this criteria; an Indonesian citizen who earns no more than Rp8 million per month, does not have a house and never receives a subsidy. The housing subsidy is expected to help low-income people owning an affordable house amid the crisis as an impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

With the housing subsidy, the Government can meet the target of providing housing financing facility to 330,000 low-income households in 2020.

“The figure consists of 88,000 households that pay KPR under the FLPP scheme, 67,000 households that pay KPR under the BP2BT scheme, and 175,000 households that pay KPR under the SSB scheme,” he added.

The Government does its utmost to help low-income people to fulfill one of basic necessities, namely a house. (Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing/EN).

Translated by : Rany Anjany S
Reviewed by: Mia Medyana