Sufficient housing for all
WITH a population estimated to have reached more than six million people, sufficient housing for all, especially families from the low-income group, is a major concern in Selangor.
To counter this, the Selangor government has initiated the affordable housing scheme whereby every housing development in the state must also offer inexpensive homes. Aptly named Rumah Selangorku, the scheme is a light at the end of the tunnel for many who had once believed they would never be able to own homes.
“The Selangorku housing scheme was initiated in January 2013 and made it compulsory for developers to build affordable homes in their projects,” said state executive councillor for housing Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad.
According to Iskandar, the affordable homes carried price tags between RM42,000 and RM250,000 per unit.
“There are several varieties of homes priced at RM42,000, RM100,000, RM150,000, RM180,000, RM220,000 and RM250,000,” he added.
As per requirement, a developer building on more than 10 acres (4ha) must construct 30% to 40% of affordable homes. The sale of the houses comes under the control of Selangor Housing and Real Property Board (LPHS).
“Those wanting to buy the houses must first register with LPHS and developers can only sell to registered buyers,” said Iskandar.
The state has also conceptualised a platform to help those who do not qualify for housing loans from banks. One of the schemes offered is the Dana Selangor or DANASEL, which is a hire purchase mechanism of sorts. The houses are first bought by the state government and the buyers make monthly pay- ments for a stipulated number of years before taking full ownership of the properties.
The first phase of the scheme involved 118 low-cost apartments in Rimba Jaya, Shah Alam, and many of the units have been occupied to date. Besides the private developers, state-owned Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) and Perbadanan Negeri Selangor Berhad (PNSB) have also undertaken several Rumah Selangorku projects.
Some of the private developers taking part in the scheme are Eco World Development Group Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, Mah Sing Group Bhd, WCT Holdings Bhd, Glomac Bhd and SP Setia Bhd.
Meanwhile, Sime Darby Property chief operating officer Datuk Wan Hashimi Albakri said his company has already started building 600 units under the Rumah Selangorku scheme.
“We have been awarded another 500 units, so we are looking at some 1,200 units in Bukit Raja,” he added.
Wan Hashimi said Sime Darby’s overall plan is to build 4,000 units of Rumah Selangorku affordable homes a year for the next five years. Besides affordable homes, the Selangor government’s new blueprint for housing development also requires developers to build affordable units of serviced apartments, small office/home office (Soho) and small office/ virtual office (Sovo).