AFFORDABLE HOMES: There is a rise in demand among middle-income earners
KUALA LUMPUR: THE 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme (PR1MA) will widen the scope of eligibility beyond the RM2,500 to RM7,500 household income bracketย to benefit more middle-income Malaysians.
Its chief executive officer, Datuk Abdul Mutalib Alias, said a study conducted recently by PR1MA revealed an increasing demand for affordable housing among middle-income earners.
The findings will be presented to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak soon.
“To meet the demand, we are in talks with the prime minister to increase the supply of PR1MA homes within the next few years by identifying new areas for development,” Mutalib said in his keynote address during the Business Times’ Insight series titled “affordable Housing” yesterday.
The areas that have been identified and are under various stages of development include Seremban Utara (Negri Sembilan), Kuantan (Pahang), Nusajaya (Johor), Bukit Gelugor (Penang) and Alam Damai (Cheras), which was recently launched by Najib.
Mutalib said the company was in the midst of land negotiations to build PR1MA homes in Sungai Besi besides having put forth an ambitious plan to develop a PR1MA neighbourhood around the innovative Seremban Sentral project, linking the area to accessible public transportation.
Mutalib also said an estimated 4.6 million Malaysians were in financial distress because they lived in urban areas but were earning less than RM3,000 a month.
“PR1MA was established with the sole intention of tackling the rising cost of living in urban areas.
“The concept of ‘urban poor’, referred to many times by the prime minister, is a serious issue for a developing nation like ours, mainly because of the rise in migration from rural to urban areas.”
In two decades, the country’s urban demographic had more than doubled, from 34 per cent in 1980 to 72 per cent in 2010.
“With property prices also increasing, the government felt that a mechanism was needed to not only build affordable homes but also quality and sustainable ones as well,” said Mutalib.
He admitted that PR1MA would not succeed on its own without engaging the private developers.
“Public-private partnerships are being undertaken, where private developers build the homes and allow us to sell them under PR1MA.”
He said the company was also working on the end-financing aspect of homes bought under PR1MA.
“We have had cases where applicants selected through the balloting process are subsequently ineligible for a bank loan. We are looking into this issue and are considering possible solutions, such as rent-to-own and equity sharing.”
A discussion was held later with industry experts, including Glomac Bhd group managing director Datuk Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor, Real Estate and Housing Developers Association president Datuk Seri Michael Yam, FIABCI Asia-Pacific chairman Datuk Alan Tong Kok Mau, Universiti Putra Malaysia Housing Research Centre head Datuk Abang Abdullah Abang Ali and Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations president Datuk Marimuthu Nadason.
Key among the issues discussed were how private developers could be roped in to participate in affordable housing projects while ensuring a healthy return of profits.
