Developers can upgrade unsold low-cost units
22/03/2007 NST By Rizalman Hammim

SEREMBAN: Developers in the state will be allowed to upgrade their unsold low-cost houses to medium cost, to help sell them.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan said he has received information from certain developers that they were facing difficulty selling their low-cost houses because of the location of their projects.

"In certain areas like Seremban, it is difficult to sell low-cost houses."

However, these developers continue to fulfil their obligations under the state government’s policy, which makes it compulsory for them to build low-cost houses in 30 per cent of their project.

"We feel that it is not fair to them if they can’t sell those units because there is no demand," he said after chairing the state exco meeting yesterday.
Therefore, he said, the state government was willing to let them upgrade the unsold units to medium-cost and sell them at higher prices.

"We already have a case in Lukut, Port Dickson, where a developer upgraded the unsold low-cost units and managed to sell them over a short period of time."

The state government needed to help the developers as the holding cost was high and the profit margin on these low-cost houses was low, he said.

But, he added, this would not be done across the board. It will be on a case-by-case basis.

For each upgraded unit, he said the developer must contribute RM5,000 to a fund set up by the state government to acquire land, which would then be used to build affordable public housings.

On the Hantu & Jin...? exhibition, he said they would let the State Museum Board make a decision on whether to continue with it.

He said they would probably meet today or tomorrow, and the state government would then look at the pros and cons of the decision.

The museum, however, said it would continue with the exhibition.