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Jakartans sign up to buy their own homes
In Jakarta where more than 10 million people are crammed into just 661.52 square kilometers, many residents have lived for years by renting their homes.
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House hunting: People apply for the resident housing solution (Samawa) program, which allows for houses in designated housing developments to be purchased with zero down payment, at the city’s Public Housing Agency office in Jakarta on Thursday. (The Jakarta Post/Wendra Ajistyatama )
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n Jakarta where more than 10 million people are crammed into just 661.52 square kilometers, many residents have lived for years by renting their homes.
As such, on the first day of registration for the Jakarta administration’s zero-rupiah down-payment housing scheme, known as the resident housing solution (Samawa), residents rushed to register in the hopes of finally being able to own a space of their own.
One applicant, Yunaldi, 47, who visited the Jakarta Housing Agency office in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, on Thursday to register for the program, said he was hopeful that with the assistance of the program’s payment scheme his family of three could finally have their own place to call home.
People can also register at mayoral offices in Jakarta’s five municipalities as well as the Thousand Islands regency office until Nov. 20.
Yunaldi said he moved to Jakarta in 2003 from Padang, West Sumatra, and had been renting a unit in a Tanah Abang low-cost apartment (Rusunawa) in Central Jakarta for the last 10 years. After learning about the program, he thought it was time for him to finally buy his own place.
“I have gone around [looking for houses to buy], but none have fit my finances or been near my place of work,” he said.
As an operator of a Muslim wear business at the Tanah Abang textile market, he said he earned an income of roughly Rp 10 million (US$661) per month, although he brought home less than Rp 7 million of that. As such, he was confident he would be approved for the Samawa program.
Yunaldi, however, has to compete with millions of Jakartans, as Governor Anies Baswedan recently said that around 50 percent of Jakartans did not own their own home.
For Napoleon, 36, a private company employee born and raised in East Jakarta, the payment scheme was a chance for him to finally own his own home after living with his parents and later renting a house for his family of four.
“Previously, I’ve looked for information [to buy a house], including apartments. However, saving for a down payment takes time, and even after saving for some time we still cannot afford a down payment,” he said. Napoleon and his wife Icha, 30, hoped to sign up for the joint income credit scheme, as their joint income was roughly Rp 7 million.
Napoleon said he realized there was limited availability for housing in Klapa Village in Pondok Kelapa, East Jakarta, and that he did not mind if he had to wait for other housing to become available under the scheme.
“[If we do not get approved], we’ll rent again for the time being and when other housing is available we will try again,” he said.
The high-rise housing of Klapa Village is offered for prices ranging from Rp 184 million for a studio apartment to Rp 310 million for a two-bedroom apartment, with installment plans of 10, 15 or 20 years.
As of Thursday, 383 applicants had signed up for the program. North Jakarta recorded the highest number of applicants with 113, followed by East Jakarta, 72; Central Jakarta, 60; South Jakarta, 32; West Jakarta, 31, and Thousand Islands, 5. An additional 70 people registered at the agency’s office. Online registration at dp0rupiah.jakarta.go.id is not yet available.
The agency’s head of housing ownership, Dzikran Kurniawan, said the agency was worried the online registration would be ineffective as applicants could make mistakes when submitting their data for registration.
There are several requirements to buy an apartment under the scheme. These include having been a resident of Jakarta for the past five years, having a Jakarta ID card and tax number (NPWP) and never having owned a house. Applicants must also have a Bank DKI account, which is currently the main partner of the program.
The apartments are intended for those with incomes of Rp 4 million to 7 million per month, with married couples given priority.
Dzikran said the main purpose of the registration was to create a database of Jakartans who needed housing the most. The Klapa Village complex will comprise 780 apartments by July next year.
“With this database, we will know how many Jakartans need houses, which will inform our future construction plans,” he said.
