The Selangor government is the first in the country to control the development of serviced apartments, small office home office (Soho) and small office versatile office (Sovo), by setting conditions for the construction of affordable units, said state exco member Iskandar Abdul Samad.

He said with the new policy, developers are required to allocate between 10 to 20 percent of their construction to build affordable apartments and the percentage is based on the total number of units.

The state exco for housing, urban well-being and building management claimed that the federal government or BN state governments have no such policies.

“Why the respective governments are not brave enough to put requirements on developers to build affordable housing."

Iskandar (photo) said the affordable units are priced between RM230,000 and RM270,000, compared to Soho or Sovo units which are priced between RM450,000 and RM500,000.

“In actuality, the agreed prices are higher than that. However, the Selangor government has made it a requirement for developers to give discounts to buyers regardless of their race.

“The affordable housing units would be controlled by the Selangor Housing and Property Board. Those who want to purchase must be registered with the board.

“The developer cannot sell the units themselves. The qualification of the house buyers would be determined by household income. The quota for bumiputera would also be implemented,” he said in a statement today.

He said there are certain quarters in the media who tried to twist the facts on the new policy by claiming that the state has betrayed its people.

Iskandar said serviced apartments, Soho and Sovo are not the same as Rumah Selangorku housing.

“Rumah Selangorku are still priced between RM42,000 and RM250,000. The federal government's affordable housing costs up to RM300,000.

“Rumah Selangorku is built on land with residential status. But serviced apartments, Soho and Sovo are built on land which commercial status,” he said.

The Selangor exco said the targeted people for service apartments, Soho and Sovo are different from Rumah Selangorku.

The quit rent, property tax, water and electric tariff differs on properties built on commercial land.