KUANTAN: Faced with RM15mil in loan arrears from low-cost houseowners, the Pahang government has had to put off building more than 400 houses for low-income applicants.

Housing and Growth Centres Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Soffi Tan Sri Abdul Razak said applicants for new low-cost homes were being deprived of their houses because present owners were refusing to repay their loans.

He said the state government would now use several approaches to urge existing owners to repay their loans and rental fees.

They included making personal visits to the homes, issuing warning notices and finally sealing off the houses, he said.

“We don’t want to seize the houses, but we might have no other option but to issue court orders if they still refuse to repay their loans.

“Some of these low-cost house owners have not paid their loans for up to 10 years,” he said after launching the state-level property expo, organised by the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia here on Thursday.

Mohd Soffi said the state government had made checks on the houseowners and found that many were able to buy cars, subscribe to Astro satellite television and renovate their houses.

He said that some houseowners also rented out their houses to others, which he said contravened the low-cost housing hire-purchase stipulations.

“All of them gave the reasons that they couldn’t afford to pay up, but they are only required to pay from RM50 to RM150,” he added.

In his speech, which was read by Mohd Soffi, Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said that as at Feb 28, the state government had received 66,024 applications to purchase low-cost houses.