Rehda president Soam Heng Choon said currently buyers had to pay first and then apply to recover that money from the EPF.

“We want the procedure to be made easier. Why not let EPF pay directly to developers instead of buyers having to pay the 10% first?” he told reporters at a briefing on the Rehda Property Industry Survey for the first half of 2019.

Soam said this was one of the main items on their Budget 2020 “wish list”.

He suggested the EPF contribution to Account 2, which can be used for property downpayment, be increased from 30% to 50%.

Soam said owning a house was usually part of people’s retirement plans.

“EPF can require that if the house-buyers sell the house before they retire, then the money has to go back to the EPF account. It can stipulate that anything above 30% taken from the EPF account will have to be placed back in this account if they sell the house.”

He said Rehda had submitted its wish list for the Budget 2020 to the finance minister and housing and local government minister.