Johor is now pushing and promoting the needs for affordable homes.
While it may look impossible on paper, the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REHDA) believes that Iskandar Malaysia’s 500,000-new home target by 2025 can be achieved as long as all stakeholders work together, reported The Star.
Johor REHDA branch chairman Datuk Steve Chong Yoon On said the development of the houses should not be undertaken solely by private developers, but must be shared by Federal government-linked and state-linked companies as well.
In concurring, Samuel Tan Wee Cheng, director at KGV International Property Consultant (M) Sdn Bhd, noted that developers and state-linked companies had to build around 62,500 new homes annually for eight years.
“It is a tough call but can be achieved with determination and perseverance,” he said.
Notably, Iskandar Malaysia needs around 500,000 new homes by 2025 to cater for a three million population, revealed Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, chief executive officer of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA).
Currently, there are around 700,000 homes within the state and a huge demand for houses priced from RM100,000 to RM350,000, said Ismail.
With this, Tan said Iskandar Malaysia should have more public-private initiative housing projects on state-owned land to enable the state to provide affordable homes for first-time homeowners.
Chong, on the other hand, called on the state to abolish or reduce the compliance cost imposed on developers to help lower house prices in Johor.
When approving housing loans for Iskandar Malaysia projects, banks should look at applications on a case by case basis as there are many locals who are earning in Singapore dollar, he said.
“We have thousands of Malaysians living in Johor Baru but commute daily to work in Singapore…They have strong purchasing power after converting their salaries into ringgit,” added Chong.
Among new developments to look out for in Johor are:
2. One Sentral Serviced Residence
Image sourced from FMT
Radin Ghazali, Content Writer at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email radin@propertyguru.com.my
For more information on new homes, check out PropertyGuru’s New Property Launches and Project Reviews.
