State committed to help target groups own homes

MELAKA: The state government is committed to helping target groups, especially the underprivileged, to own their dream homes by conducting various initiatives.

These initiatives have enabled the state to be recognised as having a housing industry with the most affordable pricing.

State Housing, Local Government and Environment Committee chairman Tey Kok Kiew said based on a research by Khazanah Research Institute and the World Bank, Melaka had been recognised as the state that provided the most affordable homes, costing RM80,000 compared with RM240,000 for other states in the region.

“Houses in Melaka are cheap, priced from RM120,000 to RM250,000 compared with the same types of houses in other states, which may cost RM470,000 or RM700,000. The issue of unsold houses, which is quite critical in other states, is almost non-existent in Melaka.

“This shows that the housing projects here are done based on current demand, from the aspect of location and price,” he said at the fourth and final series of the MyRumah Property Showcase 2018 organised by the New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP) group in Mahkota Parade, Bandar Hilir, yesterday.

According to Tey, the state government had targeted to build 57,503 units of affordable homes by 2023, with more than 27,000 units built by the state and the remainder by developers.

“The state government will put in effort to build more low cost houses worth RM80,000 to RM90,000.

“Among others, this effort is to help those who have just started working to rent a place, before owning a house when they are more financially sound,” he said.