/// West Malaysia Property News
Build PR1MA Homes Where Its Really Needed,
Urge Property Experts
Penang to Enforce New Housing
Rules
and Tradewinds Corp
Bhd on a 50:50 basis to
build PR1MA homes in
Cheras, which he deems
“exciting”.
Artist impression of PR1MA Alam Damai, Cheras, Kuala
Lumpur
Perbadanan PR1MA
Malaysia, a government
body tasked to build
affordable homes,
should develop them
in or near city centres
where the demand is,
say property consultants.
“At the end of the day,
location matters. People
want to stay near their
workplaces,” JS Valuers
Research & Consultancy
Sdn Bhd executive
director Chan Wai Seen
told The Edge Financial
Daily by telephone.
“Even though many
seek to buy 1Malaysia
Housing Programme
(PR1MA) homes, they
end up not buying them
because the homes are
not near where they
work,” he said.
To date, PRIMA homes
are in Nusantara Prima,
Johor Baru and Alam
Damai, Cheras.
Chan also said that the
body needs to address
the availability of loans
to middle-class earners
to buy PR1MA homes,
among other issues.
As at August last year,
out of the 20,519 units
that were approved by
Perbadanan PR1MA’s
board of directors,
31.7% are in city centres,
including 4,636 units
in Kuala Lumpur and
92
1,877 units in Kuching,
Sarawak.
However, Perbadanan
PR1MA chief executive
officer Datuk Mutalib
Alias was reported as
saying that the company
is planning to launch
more PR1MA housing
projects in the Klang
Valley as part of its
160,000-unit target by
the end of this year.
These units form part of
the 500,000 to be rolled
out by the company by
2018.
To date, the company
has approval from its
board to build 45,000
homes across the
country. To meet its
2013 target of building
80,000 homes by March
this year, Mutalib said
last Tuesday that the
company hoped to
get approval to build
another 35,000 homes
by the first quarter of
this year.
A property consultant
who declined to
be named said the
government should
look into acquiring old
abandoned buildings
in city centres with low
plot ratio for developing
PR1MA homes.
He cited the proposed
joint venture project
between S P Setia Bhd
www.PropertyHunter.com.my
Under the project, S P
Setia and Tradewinds will
redevelop the low-cost
public housing scheme
in Cheras involving Flat
Sri Johor, Flat Sri Melaka,
Flat Sri Pulau Pinang and
the Taman Ikan Emas
longhouses.
“[Developers] can still
make profits out of that
[project] and benefit the
middle-income earners
instead of selling the
tract of land to private
developers,” he added.
Mutalib said his company
plans to launch 1,349
new landed PR1MA
homes in Sungai Petani,
Kedah within one to two
months at an indicative
price of between RM150
per sq ft and RM250 per
sq ft — 20% lower than
the market price.
However, he noted
that the company still
needs to perform all the
required due diligence
before it can proceed
with the development.
S P Setia sales gallery in Johor
The state of Penang is set
to enforce new housing
regulations on the proposed
date of February 1, 2014.
At its core, the new regulation
is designed to minimise
speculation in the state’s
property market and to
ensure public housing
and affordable homes are
accessible to low and middleincome first-time home
buyers.
The new regulation affects
citizens and non-citizens
buying low cost homes (up
to RM42,000), low-medium
cost homes (up to RM72,500),
affordable homes on the
island (below RM400,000),
and affordable homes on the
mainland (below RM250,000)
and covers all past and future
purchases.
Homeowners who wish to sell
their house within the 5 or 10year lock-in period must first
make an appeal to the state
government. Additionally,
these houses can only be
sold to “listed buyers” which
are certified middle-income
individuals registered with the
state government’s Housing
Department.
Our infograp hic illustrates the
new housing regulation and
restrictions imposed on home
buyers.
Last Friday, the company
signed a memorandum
of understanding
with the Kedah State
Development Corp to
identify strategic land in
the state, and develop
with SP Baiduri Sdn Bhd
the construction of the
PR1MA homes in Sungai
Petani.
Even though many seek to buy 1Malaysia
Housing Programme (PR1MA) homes, they
end up not buying them because the homes
are not near where they work