PETALING JAYA: HouzKEY, an innovative product based on a rent-to-own scheme that was launched last November, is now open to the public in the Klang Valley for applications.

It is the first rent-to-own home ownership plan in Malaysia to be fully enabled on a digital platform, where the application and submission of supporting documents are to be made online.

In a media release yesterday, Maybank Islamic Bhd said the public can browse through its www.Maybank2own.com portal for a range of properties by 12 established developers which include EcoWorld Bhd, SP Setia, Mah Sing Properties, Sime Darby Property, Gamuda Properties, UEM Sunrise, Selangor Dredging Bhd, and Mitraland.

It is expected that seven more developers will come on board by the end of this month.

Customers are given the option to purchase the property after renting for at least one year at a pre-agreed price.

Since the launch, there has been 13,000 visitors on the portal and 2,000 of them have indicated interest on the product.

“Once an applicant chooses a property on the portal and applies to rent it, the bank would provide a decision within 24 hours working day, following which the customer must make the three months’ rental deposit within seven days.

“After the agreement is signed, the property is locked in at a fixed rental price for five years and the customers can migrate to Maybank mortgage seamlessly after one year of renting, or they can continue renting with 2% step-up on the sixth year until their tenure ends,” it said.

Maybank Islamic chief executive officer Datuk Mohamed Rafique Merican said that the bank would continue to focus on creating more innovative syariah-compliant solutions and developing products and services leveraging on Maybank Group’s strength and expertise in Islamic finance.

“We are constantly looking at introducing products which offer better value proposition to our customers.

“HouzKEY promotes financial inclusion by offering an alternative path to home ownership, and it is also Maybank’s way of supporting Malaysia’s national agenda on home ownership,” he said.

Close to 70% of them are from the target age group of between 25 and 34 years old.