The Penang State Government has envisioned Penang Arts District to be the creative hub of Penang’s contemporary arts and culture, as an initiative to catalyse the economic growth of the creative industry in Penang. With an existing dynamic arts scene in Penang that is growing as a contemporary cultural centre, PAD will enhance the value of Penang’s arts and culture by engaging artists, craftsmen, educators and the community at large through the activation of creative spaces with interactive art-related programmes.

Penang Arts District to be setup on a 9.2 acre development site off Gat Lebuh Macallum and Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu. With approximately 100,000 sq.ft. build-up space mainly made up of shipping containers. The container concept and modular style to allow greater flexibility and opportunity for the space to evolve with time.

This project will cater to the single largest collection of art galleries, cultural museums, exhibition spaces, art and music studios, arts schools and workshops in Malaysia. It is expected to be ready for occupancy by 3rd quarter of 2019.

Location Map:

A low-density mixed development by Asiamas Housing at Jelutong, Penang. Strategically located along Jalan Slim, just a stone’s throw away from Setia Sky Ville development scheme by S P Setia.  It is only mere minutes drive to various high schools, namely Heng Ee secondary school, Penang Free School and Han Chiang College.

The proposed development comprises 4 unit of 2-storey shop offices and a gated & guarded housing scheme with 22 unit of 3-storey terrace houses.

Project Name : Jelutong Residences
Location : Jelutong, Penang
Property Type : Residential & shop offices
Built-up Area: (to be confirmed)
Total Units: 22 (3-storey terrace), 4 (2-storey shop office)
Indicative Price: (to be confirmed)
Developer : Asiamas Housing Sdn. Bhd.

Location Map:

For housing, the following was announced in Budget 2018 to ease home ownership in Malaysia:

1. The Government will continue to intensify efforts to increase home-ownership for the rakyat with an allocation of RM2.2 billion as follows:

• 17,300 units of People’s Housing Programme;econd: 3,000 units of People’s Friendly Home under SPNB;
• 210,000 units of houses under PR1MA with prices RM250,000 and below. For this, RM1.5 billion is allocation for the period of two years;
• 25,000 units of 1Malaysia Civil Servants Housing Programme (PPA1M) will be completed in 2018 while another 128,000 units are at various stages of construction;
• 600 units of MyBeautiful New Homes (MyBNHomes) scheme for B40 households in Terengganu, Pahang, Melaka, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak as well as Orang Asli settlements;
• 2,000 units under MyDeposit programme to assist down payments as well as MyHomes programme to enable developers to provide more affordable homes; and
•  A sum of RM200 million is allocated for maintenance and refurbishment of houses, including the 1Malaysia Maintenance Fund.

2. To encourage the construction of more affordable homes, the step-up financing scheme introduced by PR1MA will be extended to private housing developers subject to certain criteria.

3. With regard to abandoned housing projects, stamp duty exemption for loan agreements and letter of consent to transfer, are given to rescuing contractors and original owners of abandoned projects, effective 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020.

4. To promote rental of residential homes, for the first time in 60 years, the Government proposes a 50% tax exemption on rental income received by resident individuals not exceeding RM2,000 per month for resident individuals.

5. This exemption is effective from the year of assessment of 2018 to 2020. The Government will also formulate the Residential Rental Act to protect the landlord and tenant.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Property developer Mah Sing Group Bhd will be launching its ‘Reinvent Affordability’ campaign tomorrow, which will serve as a key theme in the group’s business plan — to develop more affordably priced homes to cater to the market’s supply demand gap.

Its managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said there is still a supply and demand gap in the property industry, with an average yearly increase of 118,000 households formed against a supply of 85,000 completed new houses yearly between 2012 and 2014.

“We believe that our business direction in developing more affordably priced homes does not only bridge the mismatch in supply and demand gap for the affordable segment but also ties in with the government’s broad Budget 2018 objectives in helping rakyat to own a home,” he said in a statement today.

The campaign covers the group’s four upcoming new launches, namely M Centura in Sentul — a freehold residential development, M Vertica in Cheras — a serviced residence, M Vista in Penang — a residential development, and Fern phase 2 in Meridin East, Johor — two-storey homes, where unit selections will begin from this weekend onwards.

Find out more about M Vista @ Southbay, Batu Maung

“All projects have recorded very high registration of interest and are expected to be well taken up once the projects are launched,” he said.

Leong said keeping the best interest of homeowners in mind, the group plans for its residential products to be affordable without compromising the quality and facilities to further enhance the life of homebuyers.

“We want our customers to be able to enjoy the best of both worlds by providing homes with superior product specifications at a price point many can actually afford,” he said.

Source: EdgeProp.my

Warning of a “homeless generation” of Malaysians who cannot afford to own homes, the National House Buyers Association (HBA) mooted four mechanisms to avert such a crisis, including curbing property speculation through higher stamp duty rates and higher real property gains tax on buyers and sellers who own more than two properties.

HBA said the government should increase the supply of affordable homes by incentivising private developers with fast-track project approvals, cheaper land conversion or alienation costs, partial tax exemption on profits from such projects.

It also mooted a nationwide rent-to-own scheme for the B40 and M40 group to help them overcome the usual 10 per cent deposit hurdle; it also urged the government to intervene by imposing price controls on affordable housing as it knew the actual land costs developers had to bear.

The Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) proposed measures to make it easier for first-time buyers of affordable homes, including full stamp duty exemption on higher-value affordable properties instead of the RM300,000 limit announced in the last Budget, as well as exemption from higher conveyancing legal fee rates —— newly introduced this March —— for such properties.

Rehda’s detailed 10-point list also suggested waiving the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on affordable housing construction materials, and allowing first-time homebuyers earning below RM10,000 to have the housing loan interest during the construction period to be included in their affordable housing unit’s price.

Besides asking for lower business costs, Rehda also said the minimum RM1 million price limit announced in Budget 2014 for foreign buyers of residential properties should be replaced with a three-tier pricing system according to how urbanised a state is.

Source: The Malay Mail Online