The stop-work order for Yuta Maju Sdn Bhd, the contractor for the RM545.6mil Jalan Bukit Kukus paired roads project, has been lifted by the Department of Safety and Occupational Health (DOSH).

In view of this, the Penang Island City Council has also lifted its stop-work order from Monday.

The city council said the contractor would now focus on slope mitigation works besides preparing an assessment to increase the safety precautions at the worksite.

“The contractor will also prepare a ‘method statement’ for work done at the site,” it said in a statement yesterday.

According to the city council, Yuta Maju Sdn Bhd has also hired more consultant engineers to design temporary job scopes and to monitor work at the site.

“At the moment, the project is 73.24% complete and we expect the project to be completed in mid-2020. Stricter checks will be carried out by the project consultants and the council itself will also ensure the work is done according to the specifications,” it said.

It was earlier reported that the project may be completed in late 2020 or later as it faces uncertainty over the stop-work order following a landslide in October last year.

The landslide saw 12 containers on a slope crashing down and killing nine foreign workers and injuring four people after 14 concrete beams, measuring 25m long each, fell onto a slope in Jalan Tun Sardon days earlier.

It is learnt that a crane operator had accidentally knocked down one of the beams laid on the ground, causing others to fall onto the slope.

DOSH subsequently issued a stop-work order on Oct 17 last year after the mishap.

Source: TheStar.com.my

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The glut in homes priced below RM300,000 is due to their “wrong” locations, reiterates the National House Buyers’ Association (HBA).

In response to calls made by the Penang Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) for urgent measures to be taken to alleviate the current property glut, especially residential properties priced below RM300,000, HBA secretary general Datuk Chang Kim Loong said many properties in this segment are not selling because they were not built in the right location.

“Affordable properties must have three criteria – they must be priced between RM150,000 to RM300,000; the built-up must be at least 800 sq ft with at least 2-bedrooms so that it is conducive for family living; and they must be located in areas with good public transport connectivity and public amenities,

“Back to the current glut of affordable properties under RM300,000 as claimed by Rehda, perhaps Rehda can clarify whether such properties meet the location criteria,” Chang said in a statement today.

In a news report yesterday, Penang Rehda also said middle range properties priced between RM600,000 and RM800,000 in good locations are still selling well.

“This seems to imply that properties that are below RM300,000 are located in less desirable locations and hence cannot attract enough buyers. The fault would then lie with the developers and not on stringent loan criteria imposed by banks (as claimed by Rehda),” Chang commented.

According to Chang, the US sub-prime crisis which lead to the Global Financial Crisis was due to three factors that happened concurrently – overpriced properties, slowing economy and loans given to less credit worthy applicants.

“Malaysia has not met the (last) criteria as banks have always practised good credit evaluation. If banks are forced to relax credit criteria and give loans to those who would not otherwise qualify and if these group of borrowers subsequently default, it can lead to a banking sector collapse which will destroy the entire economy,” he warned.

He added that it was easier to get housing loans back in 1999 or even up to 2012 because the ratio of property price to income was manageable.

“The reason why banks are rejecting applicants as claimed by Rehda is not due to stringent loan criteria but the fact that the property price is beyond the income capability of the applicant. Banks are in the business of accepting deposits and giving loans and making a profit in the process and would not reject a credit worthy customer.

“It is time for Rehda to face reality and start building more properties that the Rakyat can afford to buy. As for the current glut, the developers can either give more discounts or perhaps launch their own “Rent-to-Own” programme to help the lower and middle income groups,” Chang said.

Source: EdgeProp.my

The Real Estate and Housing developers’ Association (Rehda) is optimistic that the newly launched Affordable Homes and Rumahku Portal fund by Bank Negara (BNM) will help boost home ownership within the country.

REHDA president Datuk Soam Heng Choon said the fund had a low interest rate and would be especially beneficial for low-income individuals.

“There are affordable properties within the country but the issue is that many don’t qualify for financing,” he told reporters on the sidelines after the launch of the fund today.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, who officiated the launch, said there were already 16 applications for the fund.

BNM’s Fund for Affordable Homes and Rumahku portal is an online financial education module provided by Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK).

The fund has an allocation of RM1bil and is aimed at helping home buyers from the lower income group nationwide to finance the purchase of their first homes.

The fund is eligible to Malaysian citizens with a maximum monthly household income of RM2,300 and do not have any record of impaired financing within the past 12 months.

The maximum financing rate is 3.5% per annum, with a maximum tenure of up to 40 years or up to 70 years of the applicants’ age, whichever is shorter.

The fund is applicable for properties below RM150,000.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said many of these houses were “outside of the main towns.”

“Among the locations include Alor Setar, Kedah and Seberang Prai in Penang,” she said.

The participating financial institutions for the fund are AmBank, BSN, CIMB, Maybank and RHB Bank.

AKPK’s RumahKu portal will assist potential borrowers to assess their ability to meet the financial commitments associated with owning a home and their capacity in purchasing and financing their home.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Non-Penangites will now be able to buy affordable housing units here in a move by the state government to address the overhang situation.

State Housing, Town, Country Planning and Local Government Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said affordable units that fall under the open market category would be up for sale at market rate and not bound by affordable housing pricing.

“We have allowed open market sales before. In every affordable housing project, 30% of the units will be sold under the open market category.

“This time, we have decided to increase the percentage to 40%, of which 20% can be sold to non-Penangites who are not registered voters here.

“That includes our projects in Penang Development Corporation, as we are facing the same challenges,” he said during a press conference in Komtar here yesterday.

Affordable units in Penang come with three price tags – RM150,000, RM200,000 and RM300,000.

Jagdeep said Penang had an overhang of 3,445 units in 2018 compared to 2,271 in 2017.

He also said the income eligibility for affordable housing had been raised by RM2,000 in each category.

For a RM150,000 unit, the household income is now RM8,000 compared to RM6,000 previously.

The household income is RM10,000 and RM12,000 for the purchase of a RM200,000 and RM300,000 unit respectively.

“The biggest challenge we have is the high bank loan rejection rate.

“One of the reasons is the household income of a family is not sufficient to meet the criteria during bank loan application.

“That’s when we decided to increase the income cap by RM2,000 across the board,” he added.

Jagdeep also said the 3% approval fee for purchase of property by foreigners would be waived in February as a measure to boost sales of high-end properties.

On Penang island, foreigners cannot buy anything less than RM3mil for landed properties and nothing less than RM1mil for a stratified or high-rise unit.

On the mainland, it is RM1mil for landed properties and RM500,000 for stratified or high-rise properties.

Jagdeep said while there has been an overhang in Penang, it was “manageable”.

“But being that as it may, I think it is important for the Penang government to continuously assist the housing sector,” he said earlier before announcing the measures taken by the state early this year.

Jagdeep urged all developers to focus on affordable housing, assuring they will have no problems in selling their units.

“I don’t understand what high compliance costs the developers are talking about, as they also sell units for RM1mil and RM2mil.

“In any case, it’s cross-subsidised as the 30% requirement for them to build low cost and low-medium cost units is the compliance and their profits from luxury units could easily cover this,” said Jagdeep when asked about the concerns of high compliance costs highlighted by some developers.

He also said he was tasked to help the lower income group and provide them with affordable housing.

He said the government would solve the high rejection rate with new guidelines in the coming months and the Finance Ministry’s exemption of stamp duty for first-time homebuyers for properties up to RM1mil was a way towards solving issues in the industry.

“There is no glut and I can confidently paint a rosy picture of the housing industry in the state, which will further prosper in 2019,” he added.

Source: TheStar.com.my