For sale — city flats cheaper than cars

KUALA LUMPUR: City Hall (DBKL) hopes to sell 34,146 low cost flats via the special funding scheme for the sale of houses under the National Economic Action Council's People Housing Programme (PPR-MTEN).

"As of now, 4,919 units of low cost flats (PPR) and public houses (PA) have been sold and another 12,675 people have accepted the offer letters we sent out recently," said City Hall deputy director Datuk Mhd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz yesterday.

Of the 34,146 flats offered, he said 14,584 of them are owned by DBKL while the rest are owned by PPR-MTEN. He expressed confidence that DBKL would be able to achieve 100 per cent sell rate.

"The price of the units are cheaper than a car. If they can buy a car, then they can own a house." he said.

The special funding scheme, managed by Syarikat Perumahan Wilayah Persekutuan, would help those who are currently renting the flats, in applying for a full loan with no downpayment when purchasing the unit.

Mhd Amin Nordin said the interest rate has yet to be confirmed, but has been tentatively set at 6.5 per cent. "In the event of the buyer's death, their children will also have the option of continuing the scheme," he said. At the same time, Mhd Amin Nordin said DBKL would offer a buyback guarantee to those who defaulted on the loan for a period of six months.

He said the price range for the flats start from as low as RM21,500 for a single-bedroom unit to RM35,000 for three-bedrooms unit, with monthly payments of between RM100 to RM300 depending on the cost and duration of the loan which can be extended to a maximum of 35 years.

"This is relatively affordable from the current rental fees of between RM94 to RM124." he said.

Mhd Amin Nordin said DBKL only sent out offer letters to those who had no outstanding rent payments with the council.

"Logically, if they can't manage to pay rent, how can they repay the loan?" he reiterated. Asked on public hesitation to take up the offer dueto maintenance issues, Mhd Amin Nordin explained that City Hall had set up accounts for the maintenance of the flats which would be handled by 16 joint management bodies.

"Owners will still have to pay the maintenance fee but City Hall will subsidise the rest of the unsold units," he said, adding that City Hall was planning to hold roadshows to educate members of the public regarding the scheme soon.