GEORGE TOWN: Going into the 14th General Election (GE14), Barisan Nasional is well aware of the challenges faced by Penangites in owning their own home.
Last May, statistics obtained from the Penang government's own think-tank, Penang Institute, showed that the prices of home in the state were beyond the reach of most youth.
The statistics also showed that 69.3 per cent of Penangites were of the opinion that affordable housing in the state were not affordable, 81.7 per cent of those between ages 24 and 29 felt that affordable housing were unaffordable, 90.2 per cent found it difficult to purchase property in the state and 91.8 per cent found prices in Penang to be considerably expensive.
Acting state BN Youth chief Jason Loo said, mindful of the difficulty faced by the young people in owing homes, the state BN manifesto which was unveiled yesterday addressed the core problem of the issue.
He said if BN comes to power in Penang, it would compel all developers to build 30 per cent low and low-medium cost homes in each development.
Elaborating, he said the selling price of the low-cost homes would be fixed at RM40,000 a unit while the low-medium cost homes would be fixed between RM80,000 and RM120,000. A unit of car park will be made available for each unit.
"Wanting to own a home remains a dream for many in the past 10 years under the DAP-led Penang government rule.
"We have to make sure that as many Penang households as possible are able to own a house and this is our commitment towards Penangites. Let us together fulfil the housing dream of all Penangites," he said when met at the state Gerakan headquarters here today.
Loo said since the opposition took over the reign in 2008, the Penang government and private developers have built about 82 per cent affordable home units and only 18 per cent of low and low-medium cost units.
This, he added, was despite 49 per cent of Penang households earning less than RM4,000 per net.
The net household monthly income ceiling price to purchase the affordable home is RM8,000 for those buying a RM200,000 house, RM10,000 (for those buying RM300,000 house) and RM12,000 for those buying RM400,000 house).
"This unaffordable housing policy by the current administration explains why 69.3 per cent of the people of Penang opine that affordable housing in the state is not reachable.
"Worse still, in the past 10 years, developers have been given the option to pay penalty of RM120,000 in lieu for not building low-medium cost homes.
"As such, developers have been escaping from having to build low-medium cost homes in the state," he added.