State housing, town and country planning and housing committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said he and Jahara had agreed during the last Penang assembly sitting that both would work together to resolve the issues for the sake of the people.

“We will sign a joint motion to urge the federal government and Bank Negara to review the loan application rejection rate for affordable houses, which is as high as 70%,” he told reporters here today.

He said the issue of owners of affordable houses renting out their units, especially to foreigners will also be included in the motion to be sent the earliest, by next week.

Jagdeep said as the matter involved federal law, it could only be resolved with the involvement of the federal government.

“The federal government can either review the legislation and decide whether to bring a new law in specifically for affordable housing cases or to amend the existing act to include a specific section for affordable housing that states that it has to be owner-occupied,” he said.