19 October, PETALING JAYA – EMKAY Group Founder and Executive Chairman Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal Abu Bakar has proposed to build low-cost houses priced at around RM70,000 per unit in Kuala Lumpur (KL), if the government can provide suitable locations and land for the development.
He said the proposal could solve some of the housing affordability problems, especially in the city centre.
“Building affordable houses in city areas like KL is not a problem because the infrastructure, including roads, water and electricity supply, is already in place.
“These are savings to developers which can be passed on to house buyers, but the government and local authorities must also expedite the various documentation processes including giving approvals to the projects,” he told a media briefing in conjunction with the group’s 35th anniversary here today.
The anniversary celebration takes place this Sunday, Oct 21, at Mercu Mustapha Kamal.
Mustapha Kamal said the proposed RM70,000-house would have a built-up area of 600 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, targeted for the Bottom 40 household income group (B40), particularly uniformed personnel including policemen, soldiers and firefighters.
“If the federal government can work with Bank Negara Malaysia to assist developers in providing soft loans with an average of 2.5 per cent interest instead of the six per cent charged by conventional banks, it will give developers a savings of 3.5 per cent.
“It will also be good if a consortium of banks can be formed to provide 100 per cent loans with a longer repayment period, maybe between 30 and 35 years, to the house buyers,” said Mustapha Kamal.
However, he said the low-cost houses would only comprise 10 per cent of a mixed-development project, which he proposed to build on 40.46 hectares of land.
He said 40 per cent of the proposed project would comprise houses priced at RM250,000 and below, with another 40 per cent consisting of houses priced by the developers and the remaining 10 per cent to be commercial lots.
“This strategy is a paradigm shift towards building affordable houses in the national agenda. The idea may not necessarily be for the group to build but is open to other developers who want to support it,” he added.
– BERNAMA