THE Penang government has no plans to raise its price cap for low-cost, low-medium-cost and affordable housing, said the state’s housing exco Jagdeep Singh Deo.

“The country is on an austerity drive. Many people still cannot afford to pay high prices for housing.

“We are not going to increase the prices. The developers had asked for a review many times, but the state has no such plans for now,” he told a press conference today at Kampung Kastam in Gelugor.

Penang introduced ceiling prices for the three categories of housing in its 2014 budget to address the risk of a property bubble, and to ensure that homes remain affordable for genuine purchasers and first-time housebuyers, and not property speculators.

Low-cost homes in Penang are priced at RM42,000 and low-medium-cost (LMC) units are RM72,500, while the price of an affordable housing unit is capped at RM400,000 on the island, and RM250,000 on the mainland.

Buyers of these housing units must apply to the state housing department for vetting.

Jagdeep also told the media that the first “former PR1MA” housing project in Penang would be kicking off later this year in Kampung Kastam, an 8-acre site in Gelugor that was used as quarters for customs staff.

The project was to be built by the 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme (PR1MA) under the former Barisan Nasional government, but the project was delayed for several years.

Despite announcements of several projects by the former BN government, PR1MA never delivered a single house in Pakatan Harapan-controlled Penang since its inception in 2012.

Apart from two projects in Kampung Kastam, PR1MA was reported to also have one other project in Batu Ferringhi, and another on the mainland. The three island projects were supposed to deliver 3,071 units.

Jagdeep said the Penang government would expedite the high-rise project in Kampung Kastam, which was now undertaken by private developer Ideal Property Group.

Ideal executive chairman Alex Ooi said the developer will start phase one of the project by the end of this year.

“We will have 905 affordable units and 257 LMC units. We expect the project to be finished in 2021.

“The project will have the usual amenities like a futsal court, surau, meeting room and community hall… just no swimming pool,” Ooi said.

Jagdeep said Ideal will deliver the project according to state government specifications, such as price caps and unit sizes – no smaller than 850 sq ft for affordable units, and 650 sq ft for LMCs.

He also said he would be making similar visits to other state and federal-initiated housing project sites to make sure there would be no delays in delivery.

He added that he had suggested that projects formerly under PR1MA in Penang be named “Perumahan Harapan Malaysia”. – June 20, 2018.