Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow believes the Penang City Council (MBPP) will do its best to ensure that the construction work on the Bukit Kukus Twin Highway, Paya Terubong near here can be resumed safely.

He said engineers will take a look at the design of the project and make corrections if necessary after the stop work order by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) is withdrawn.

“The task of an engineer when designing any structure will take into account many factors. In this case (Bukit Kukus Twin Highway project) includes soil conditions, slopes, drainage systems and others that can help an engineering design the structure.

“So, we are waiting for the response from engineers to react to what the professor from USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) said,” he told reporters after launching Adventist Hospital’s Automatic Early Warning System (EWS) here, yesterday.

He said this in response to USM’s Landslide, Disaster Management and Soil Erosion expert Prof Dr Habibah Lateh’s statement that the twin-highway project was identified as being risky due to the type of soil in the area that was friable and not suitable for any construction.

Habibah said the State Government had to make a detailed study if it wanted to continue with the project.

Source: Bernama

Aspen (Group) Holdings Ltd said the progress of its flagship Aspen Vision City project in Bandar Cassia in Batu Kawan, Penang is well on track with the first development, Vervea shop office, set to obtain the certificate of completion and compliance by December.

The shop office development is in Central Island Park, a 10.11ha development within Aspen Vision City which Aspen is jointly developing with IKEA Southeast Asia.

“We have invested RM105 million in the first phase of the Central Island Park, including the land cost and the construction cost consisting of softscape and hardscape [elements],” said Aspen president and chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Murly Manokharan, adding that an additional RM50 million will be invested for the second phase in five years.

The development will also house the first IKEA store and a regional integrated shopping centre in northern Peninsular Malaysia. The IKEA store is scheduled to open in March next year.

The store, with a gross built-up area of 1.07 million sq ft, will offer well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that the masses will be able to afford them, said Aspen in a statement.

The Aspen-IKEA joint venture has invested over RM2.3 billion in Aspen Vision City and a more substantial investment will be made especially in commercial properties, said Aspen.

The gross development value for Aspen Vision City is estimated to be over RM13 billion.

Find out more about Aspen Vision City

Source: EdgeProp.my

Woodsland Park, a freehold affordable housing development by PTL Properties Sdn. Bhd. near Jalan Betek in Bukit Mertajam. It is strategically located next to Taman Sungai Rambai, just a stone’s throw away from SJK(C) Keow Kuang Primary School. Amenities such as schools, market, banks, shopping malls, and eateries are only a few minutes drive away.

This development will see the construction of a 23-storey high-rise building with 186 affordable units and swimming pools. Affordable housing project in the mainland is expected to be priced below RM250,000.

More details to be available upon project official launch.

READ MORE ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING:

• Eligibility and the requirement of buying affordable housing
• Full list of affordable housing in Penang

Project Name: Woodsland Park
Location : Bukit Mertajam
Property Type : Affordable Housing
Built-up Size: 850 sq.ft.
Total Units: 186
Indicative Price: RM200,000
Developer : PTL Properties Sdn. Bhd.

Location Map:

SITE PROGRESS

SITE PROGRESS: Woodsland Park (Jan 2021)

SITE PROGRESS: Woodsland Park (Jan 2020)

SITE PROGRESS: Woodsland Park (Nov 2019)

No doubt 2018 is a tough year in the property industry. Penang housing continues to experience high overhang and developers are cautious in launching new projects. However, for buyers who have cash on hand, it presents an opportunity to secure a property at pricing that may not have been possible otherwise.

Despite a slow market, PenangPropertyTalk.com analytics data indicated a stable traffic in the past several months, with an average pageviews of 300,000 a month. Here is a list of 20 most active projects in Q3 2018.

At a glance, more than half of the top 20 are affordable housing projects. Top in the list is the affordable housing at The Zen condominium, followed by Grace Harmoni. These two projects are located at Bayan Mutiara and Jelutong respectively, featuring a total of more than 1,600 affordable units.

3 Residence Condominium at Karpal Singh Drive by IJM ranked third in the list. It was launched in Q3 2018, offering 478 residential unit with built-up size ranging from 850 sq.ft. onwards.

Most of the projects in the top 20 list have already been launched with the exception of two projects – Straits City and Iconic Regency, which are slated to launch by end of this year.

Despite ranked 4th in the list, Straits City is probably the next project in everyone watch list, as it is an upcoming waterfront master-planned development in Mainland by STC Singapore, offering a mix of residential and commercial components.

* Projects are ranked based on the pageviews recorded in Google Analytic web traffic report for PenangPropertyTalk.com.

– Ken Lim
(Founder and Principal Reviewer, PenangPropertyTalk.com)

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is proposing a more flexible loan package with flexible interest rates and an extended maximum loan tenure for affordable home buyers, said Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.

“We have engaged with Bank Negara and a few banks during a few sessions and Bank Negara has come up with some more flexible and relaxed terms with regards to loan application and approval. One of it is the extension of maximum loan tenure from the current 35 years to up to 40 years,” she told reporters at a press conference after the opening of the Housing Conference 2018 today.

Currently, the maximum loan tenure is 35 years or until the borrower turns 70 years old, whichever is earlier.

There are also flexi loans, flexi interest rates and a step-up scheme, which allows the amount of repayment to commensurate with the growth of the borrower’s income over the time, she added.

“This is something that is easier and more relaxed for the homebuyers so that they can plan themselves. With this sort of approach, we hope Malaysians can change our mentality and know how to plan [according to their] financial capability,” she continued.

“As an industry, we cannot remain static. We must know the needs of the market and respond positively to the demand of our customers. Our doors are always open for discussion, let us know how we can assist the industry to enhance efficiency,” she said.

Moving forward, the ministry will be working towards consolidating data and information and at the same time address data gaps that may exist, so that the policy makers, authorities and stakeholders can all count on an efficient centralised data or property information system that is effective, accurate, useful and timely, she said.

“The government will continue to provide strong support towards this important economic sector and we expect the industry to reciprocate by working closely together with us and play your part in order to satisfy the needs of the nation and make quality and affordable home ownership a reality,” she concluded.

Source: EdgeProp.my