Perak State Development Corp accepts challenge to sell homes at RM130,000

IPOH (Feb 2): Perak State Development Corp (PKNP) will build homes priced below RM150,000 each for potential buyers unable to purchase the state’s affordable homes, says its group chief executive Datuk Aminuddin Desa.

He said this was because even though PKNP’s affordable housing units in D'Aman Residensi and Casa Kayangan in Meru Raya, priced between RM150,000 and RM299,000 each, were fully booked when they were launched in May last year, some applicants had to cancel because they were unable to secure housing loans.

"We will take up the challenge to offer housing units at RM130,000 each. We believe it is possible.

"Some have suggested to reduce that to RM80,000, but that is not feasible due to the high cost of infrastructure, which can take up to 15% of the construction costs," he said at the launch of a new affordable housing project, Suria@Meru in Ipoh yesterday.

Aminuddin said the price was RM120 per sq ft, for a unit size of 900 to 1,000 sq ft.

He said the state agency could only do so much to lower the prices of affordable housing as it was not subsidised and had the interests of its commercial partners to consider.

He advised potential home buyers to re-structure their debts if they wished to be able to afford a home.

"A large number are still unable to afford housing units priced below RM150,000 due to their lifestyle with numerous financial commitments," he said.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) should come up with a price guide to define what was "affordable".

"Currently, every state has a different idea of  'affordable'. Some say that it is below RM350,000 while others say it is below RM180,000.

"It all depends on the location and the size of the project, and which state it is in.

"In Perak, we have determined RM250,000 as the affordable mark," he said.

He said to further bring down the price of a home for the poor, the state government was prepared to bear the infrastructure costs in 20 to 40ha of land in identified locations.

He said the state government would no longer rely on federal agencies such as Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd and PR1MA Corp Malaysia to build low-cost houses in the state.

He said the delays in the projects in every district of the state had stretched into years and was detrimental to the state administration's reputation.

"We do not want to be perceived as being unable to keep our promises.

"If they do not act, we will no longer wait for them and we will go ahead with our own plans," he said. -- The Malaysian Insider

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