Groups want BTS system enforced

The star

BY LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: Several consumer groups, housing associations and abandoned project committee heads want the Government to keep to its promise to implement the mandatory build-then-sell (BTS 10:90) system next year.

House Buyers Association vice-president Datuk Goh Seng Toh said the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan had recently made a “U-turn” when he said he would propose to the Government to allow the system to co-exist with the sell-then-build system as reported in Utusan Online on Aug 26.

“This has drawn flak from the house-buying public and consumer associations, especially the victims of abandoned housing and of unlicensed developers,” said Goh at a press conference yesterday.

He said former Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Chor Chee Heung had in February 2012 reiterated that the BTS 10:90 system would be made mandatory by next year and this was recorded in the Parliament Hansard in the Dewan Rakyat.

Under the BTS 10:90 system, house buyers fork out a 10% down payment for a house and make further payments only when the property is delivered to them while the current system requires buyers to pay up to 95% until the property is completed and the rest released at the end of the defect warranty period.

Victims Malaysia president Dr Mohamed Rafick Khan said the minister’s back-pedalling was a complete betrayal of public trust.

He said Abdul Rahman should have a dialogue with stakeholders.

Rafick said the last letter sent to him for a dialogue was in April but he never received a reply.

“Ministers may come and go but the decision made in Parliament remains. If the Government wants to change it, it should still continue with the decision while reviewing it,” he said.

“Families are badly hit due to abandoned housing projects,” he said.

As of yesterday, Rafick said 356 projects were delayed and they involved 71,172 houses and affected the lives of 49,641 people.

Meanwhile, the Consumers’ Association of Penang and Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association issued a statement calling on the ministry to make the BTS 10:90 system mandatory next year.

Caveat on Prima homes

The Star, Saturday July 7, 2012

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my

(From URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/7/nation/11606657&sec=nation)

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is unlikely to allow 1Malaysia Housing Programme (Prima) homes to be re-sold at market prices after the 10-year moratorium.

Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) managing director Prof Datuk Dr Kamarul Rashdan Salleh said the Government might buy back the units if owners decide to sell them after the tenth year.

“They (owners) cannot sell it in the open market. I think the Government will enforce that,” he said after the “Affordable Housing: A Fact or Fiction?” panel discussion during the 3rd Annual Affordable Housing Projects conference on Wednesday.

Dr Kamarul said the Government was still contemplating all options.

On Monday, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung said that the Government was using unused federal land to build 42,078 affordable homes for families who earned less than RM5,000.

The units, which cost between RM150,000 and RM300,000, would be built in 20 locations in the Klang Valley, Rawang and Seremban.

He also said that while the owners would be given the units at a lower price, they would not enjoy the appreciation of prices as compared to those buying non-subsidised properties.

The discussion moderator, Australia's Housing Choices international adviser and former chief executive officer Michael Lennon said there was a need for a clear national policy.

In a question-and-answer session, Surbana International Consultants Pte Ltd director (Strategy and Branding) Ng Beng Eng said that governments should spearhead effective intervention efforts for affordable homes and the private sector could later be roped in.

Idle land given to private sector to build affordable homes

The Star, Tuesday July 3, 2012

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my

(From URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/3/nation/11590378&sec=nation)

KUALA LUMPUR: Federal land is being used by the Government to develop affordable housing for middle-income households earning less than RM5,000.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung said 42,078 affordable housing units (costing between RM150,000 and RM300,000) would be built in 20 strategic locations in the Klang Valley, Rawang and Seremban.

“The Government still has large tracks of unused land and has handed it to the private sector to build affordable houses for the middle-income group,” he said in his speech during the 3rd Annual Housing Projects Conference yesterday.

He said the public and private partnership helped reduce the housing burden borne by the Government.

Chor said this was in view of the struggles that middle-class households which make up 76% of the population have in owning homes in cities.

Currently, 71% of the population or as many as 20 million people, reside in urban areas and the demand for housing, besides rising construction cost and shortage of land, had led to the increase of property prices, he said.

Chor said the Federal Government had also put in a lot of effort in building low-cost houses for those whose household income was less than RM2,500 a month.

The Government hoped to build more than 54,200 low-cost houses by the end of the year, he said.
Chor said state governments also played a crucial role in overcoming the problem of providing affordable housing.

They could sacrifice 20% to 30% of their land to be used for building low-cost houses, he added.

“If the state government is willing to come up with the land, the Federal Government will pump in the cost of building the units,” he said.

After building the units, they would be handed back to the state government to manage, he said.