Zuraida commends ‘loyal citizen’ developers for building affordable homes
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin today thanked developers for coming on board to build affordable housing and reminded them of their duty to all Malaysians.
Speaking at the soft launch of 15 such developments this evening, she said this was in line with the Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto promise of providing one million units for those in the lower-income group within a decade.
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin today thanked developers for coming on board to build affordable housing and reminded them of their duty to all Malaysians.
Speaking at the soft launch of 15 such developments this evening, she said this was in line with the Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto promise of providing one million units for those in the lower-income group within a decade.
“I would like to thank you very much for your participation and for your support [...]
“I think you understand what we really want is to provide for the people of Malaysia, especially the lower-income group. Because we believe they should have a liveable house from now onwards under the Harapan government [...]
“It is time that we make some sacrifices for the people of Malaysia,” she told the developers in the audience.
Elaborating, Zuraida hoped that developers would now focus on building good quality affordable housing that incorporated facilities tailored to the community’s needs.
“You have enjoyed yourself in the 1980s when you built all the expensive houses, now we (have) problems clearing your expensive houses.
“So you have enjoyed that and now, it is time for you to adopt our Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 policy [...] and I hope you really can build good, liveable and affordable houses and a good community as well in all your projects especially for the B40,” she said.
Bank Negara has been warning of an excess of unaffordable residential properties every year since 2017. This overhang is made worse by a shortage of affordable homes, causing a supply-demand mismatch.
Beginning next year, Harapan will also relax conditions for foreign nationals to purchase luxury apartments and condominiums in a bid to address the glut.
Come tender for federal land
Eleven companies were announced today as the first batch of private developers working in partnership with the ministry to build housing priced RM300,000 and below. A second batch is expected.
All units must measure a minimum of 900 square feet and be in line with objectives stipulated in the Dasar Komuniti Negara (National Housing Policy).
The eleven are Pembinaan Kery Sdn Bhd, Astana Setia & Euro Saga Sdn Bhd, Besteel Engtech Sdn Bhd, Ekovest Bhd, Platinum Victory Development Sdn Bhd, OCR Group Bhd, KTI Sdn Bhd, Sany Construction Industry Development (M) Sdn Bhd, Kenhoe Construction Works Sdn Bhd, Eden Element Sdn Bhd and AQRS The Building Company Sdn Bhd.
All 15 projects, totalling 16,873 units when completed, will be carried out on private land.
Nine projects will be situated in the Klang Valley. Two projects will be built in Sabah, two in Malacca plus one in Johor and Terengganu respectively.
Meanwhile, Selangor-government-owned Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) also committed today to build 30,000 affordable housing units in the state by 2022.
Calling the developers "rakyat sejati" (loyal citizens), Zuraida hoped they would be able to expedite their projects to allow for public bookings by March next year.
In her speech, the minister revealed to the private developers in the room that the government plans to release 72 plots of federal land for tender come January next year.
“I hope that after we launch these projects (and) programmes today, you will start building your houses and I hope that you can give us a good model, a quality job and a good design [...]
“After you have proven your track record (and) proven your worthiness, I hope to call you all to participate in our request for proposal (RFP) tender for government land,” she said.
Asked afterwards if building affordable housing would help developers win such tenders, Zuraida answered that a firm’s “track record” would be considered when deciding the winners.
“It will be an open tender so everybody can come in.
“[...] If they can do it faster and we can see the (project) model and the real work, they are most welcome to take part in our tender. And of course, their track record will be justification for their performance.
“[...] It will be a consideration,” she said during a press conference.
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