KULAI: There will not be any changes in Johor’s housing policy following keen interest among foreigners, which is spurring demand for upmarket residential properties in the state, says state housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor.
He added that the current housing policy imposed by the state government has helped ensure a balanced housing market to meet the demand for property especially among locals.
“We have a policy where developers must ensure that 60% of their housing projects are meant for the open market while the 40% balance is for Johor’s Rumah Mampu Milik Johor (RMMJ) scheme.
“This policy will remain and won’t be changed,” he said in a press conference after launching the Kulai Municipal Council (MPKu) publicity programme and public participation of Kulai 2035 local plan draft held at a shopping mall here on Tuesday (Dec 3).
The Bukit Permai assemblyman added that there were fears among locals that the Forest City Special Financial Zone (SFZ) and Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) would attract more foreign investors, which will see an increase in property prices.
“In theory yes, property and land values could see an increase but the state government has a policy that binds developers to cap certain property prices at RM300,000 and below.
“Developers are able to build affordable homes meant for locals due to such a housing policy that has already been imposed on them,” he said.
Mohd Jafni added that whatever profits developers made in selling properties, which was priced between RM600,000 and RM2mil, would be channelled to help subsidise the cost of building affordable homes.
“For those that are buying affordable homes priced at RM150,000, in Johor, the actual value of their property is actually RM300,000.
“In terms of land value and cost of construction materials, there is a hike in prices but through the state government’s housing policy, we are able to control it,” he said.
Mohd Jafni added that the state government has already engaged more than 100 developers.
Some 13,000 affordable homes have been built this year with another 17,000 units to be built within the next two years, he added.
“Recently, the state government launched a RMMJ housing project within the Kota Iskandar constituency where we will have some 2,000 units of landed property priced at RM150,000.
“The project is located within an urban area where we are able to have such a project due to the housing policy that the state government has been practising. This is not an empty talk by us,” he said.
