BUTTERWORTH: Penang is looking to reduce the prices of affordable housing following the impact of the Movement Control Order (MCO), brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic on the property market, here.
State Housing Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said he would propose that the current ceiling price of RM300,000 for affordable housing on the island and RM250,000 on the mainland be reviewed.
He said it was clear that the property market would be severely affected as most projects have already been stalled due to the MCO.
"As such, we have to be aggressive to assist both purchasers and developers of such affordable housing so as to spur our economy. As I have said before, the housing sector, directly and indirectly, involves more than 100 industries," he said.
Jagdeep said the state Housing Department would engage with industry stakeholders like the Real Estate Housing and Developers' Association (Rehda), the various chambers of commerce and the local authorities on the mechanics of reviewing the affordable housing ceiling prices.
"Possibly, we can re-look at packages such as reducing the prices for extra car parks or reducing the prices for renovation packages of these units or review the pricing of basic units," he said.
Jagdeep said the MCO had impacted the income of many especially when they were not able to work and this would impact their buying capacity.
Housing, he said, was a basic right for everyone.
"To help this group of people who are affected economically, the state will increase the number of rent-to-own projects for the lower income group," he said, adding that there were currently 2,088 rent-to-own (RTO) units in Penang.
Penang is targetting to offer 18,000 RTO units by 2030.