Review on PR1MA done prior to allocation for 210,000 units

KUALA LUMPUR: The government decided to construct 210,000 units of affordable houses after conducting a review on the PR1MA housing scheme, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
The minister said this during the launch of Maybank Islamic’s rent-to-own product, Houzkey, today but did not elaborate further on the PR1MA housing scheme, which seems to be deviating from the affordable price range.
Earlier this week, Johari said the RM1.5 billion allocation for Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia to build 210,000 units priced under RM250,000 is in acknowledgement of the unaffordability of PR1MA homes. The allocation is part of Budget 2018.
Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia, whose mandate is to provide affordable housing for the M40 group, has been building homes priced between RM100,000 and RM400,000 with one of its recent projects, PR1MA @ Jalan Jubilee, even exceeding the RM400,000 level.
The largest unit in the Jalan Jubilee development, a 1,089 square feet unit is going for RM445,000. It is not known whether the corporation will limit its future developments to houses priced RM250,000 and below.