80,000 more affordable homes for the people

The Star today proclaims on its frontpage, 80,000 homes for you.

Here in Malaysia, particularly in big cities including Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bahru in the south, prices of houses have skyrocketed so much that they are practically out of reach of most young people.

Take for instance, on the fringes of KL, condos start from no less than RM350/sq ft. In other words, a 1000sq ft apartment would cost RM350,000 and this is just a conservative number. Don't even speak about landed property.

To help the people with housing, the government has embarked on a programme to build affordable houses to increase home-ownership. This latest phase will allow 80,000 more people or households to own a home in 50 cities and towns under the Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA). The programme will be officially launched in Penang this Saturday.

The online registration will see qualified applicants taking part in the balloting of the houses which will be built at the cost of about RM10bil over the next three years.

Individuals and married couples with a monthly collective household income of between RM2,500 and RM7,500 a month are eligible to register for PR1MA homes.

Landed and high-rise properties are priced between RM100,000 and RM400,000.

According to PR1MA Berhad's chief executive officer, Datuk Mutalib Alias, PR1MA adopts a flexible definition of eligible household income so family members who qualify could also register individually.

Applicants must be Malaysians aged above 21 and who do not own more than one home and are working or living in the area where the project is being developed.

Applicants could list five areas of choice of locations, adding that they would be alerted of PR1MA projects coming up for balloting via e-mail or SMS.

“An open registration system will be used for PR1MA under which anyone eligible can apply. Balloting for the homes will be independently audited and done in a transparent manner.


Source: The Star..80,000 homes in prime areas