Can First-Time Buyers Really Get a 100% Home Loan in Malaysia?

If you’ve heard that first-time buyers in Malaysia can get a 100% home loan, you’re not wrong, you’re just a couple of years out of date on the name. The scheme most people are thinking of, Skim Rumah Pertamaku (SRP), was discontinued on 1 April 2023. RHB’s own customer notice says so in three lines. A fair amount of what’s written online about SRP never got updated after that, which is how the idea keeps circulating as if it’s still current.

What Actually Happened to Skim Rumah Pertamaku

SRP was a Cagamas-administered guarantee that let banks lend first-time buyers more than the usual 90% margin, effectively covering the down payment. It stopped taking new applications after 31 March 2023. It wasn’t quietly shelved with nothing in its place, though, it was replaced by a newer, government-run scheme with a different name and a slightly different structure.

SJKP, the Scheme That Replaced It

Skim Jaminan Kredit Perumahan (SJKP) is a Budget 2025 initiative, run through the Housing Credit Guarantee Company under the Ministry of Finance. The mechanism is similar in spirit to SRP: the government guarantees the bank’s exposure on the loan, which is what lets a bank offer financing it wouldn’t otherwise extend on its own. There are two packages, and they cover different price bands:

• Standard SJKP. Total financing, meaning the loan principal plus MRTA/MRTT insurance, legal fees and valuation fees rolled together, is capped at RM500,000. The government’s guarantee on that financing exceeds 100% of the financed amount, which is the mechanism that makes near-zero-downpayment financing possible.
• SJKP MADANI. A smaller package aimed at lower-priced homes, capping total financing at RM360,000. This one states explicitly that it covers up to 100% of the house price itself, plus insurance, legal and valuation fees, and even renovation or furniture costs on top.

Core eligibility is the same across both packages: you need to be a Malaysian citizen aged 18 or older, buying your first residential property (new, subsale, or auction, for your own occupation), with a clean credit record, no CCRIS arrears longer than 2 months in the past 12 months, and no negative credit record in the past 24 months. The Ministry of Finance’s own portal lists a monthly income ceiling of RM11,000. Your total loan repayments across everything you owe can’t exceed 65% of your gross monthly income, which is a more generous debt service ratio than the roughly 60% most banks apply on a standard loan.

Joint applications and two-generation loans (parent and child applying together) are both allowed. Beyond that, exact terms, participating banks, and how the income test applies to joint applicants specifically, are worth confirming directly with a bank before you assume your situation qualifies.

A Worked Example

Say a couple has a combined monthly income of RM8,500, an existing car loan repayment of RM700 a month, and no negative credit history. They find a subsale apartment for RM480,000. Once MRTA/MRTT, legal fees and valuation are added in, the total amount they’d need financed comes to roughly RM492,000, still under the RM500,000 standard SJKP ceiling.

At an illustrative rate of 4% per annum over a 35-year tenure, that works out to approximately RM2,180 a month. Add the RM700 car loan, and their total monthly commitments come to about RM2,880, roughly 34% of their RM8,500 income, comfortably under the 65% ceiling. In this example, the income and DSR tests aren’t what would trip them up. The RM500,000 total-financing cap is the real constraint: push the property price or the add-on costs a little higher, and the deal falls outside the scheme entirely.

That illustrative rate is just that, illustrative. Actual profit rates vary by bank and change over time, so treat the RM2,180 figure as a way to see how the math works, not a quote.

Current Details to Confirm

SJKP is a relatively new scheme and both its packages and participating bank list can change as take-up grows. Confirm the current price caps, income test, and which banks are actually processing applications directly with the bank, or with the official SJKP portal, before you count on it.