Sarawak to keep homes affordable
KUCHING: The state government will allocate land to build affordable homes for the people and prevent housing prices from rising.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Abang Johari Openg yesterday said land value determined housing prices and could be manipulated.
“The land value could easily be increased or put to a higher value which is not the actual market price.”
Developers had told the government that the hike in housing prices was due to the value of land, said Johari, who is also Sarawak Housing and Urbanisation minister.
He said this at the launch of the Sarawak 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme (PR1MA) office and sales gallery at MetroCity, near Matang, here, yesterday.
“It could be a tactic to sell houses at a higher price and increase their profit margin. I’m not accusing them but it’s happening.”
However, Johari admitted that there were weaknesses in the valuation procedure, and the government and Universiti Teknologi Mara were studying ways to improve it.
“We have no choice but to intervene, as houses built by private developers are beyond our people’s means.
“Apart from that, speculation is another factor that has contributed to the price hikes.”
Johari said Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem had ordered the government to provide affordable housing, priced below RM300,000, for the middle-income group.
“Our target is to ensure our people can afford to own a house. We cannot ignore their needs and aspiration to own homes. We cannot let house prices to increase and do nothing.”
PR1MA chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Mutalib Alias said more than 27,400 applicants had chosen Sarawak as their first home under PR1MA.
A total of 17,660 units of homes in ten locations, mostly urban areas, had been approved for Sarawak, he said, adding that 4,288 units were under construction in Matang, Semenggoh
and Pending.
To date, PR1MA has approved 261,235 units throughout the country and 1,332 units have been completed.