Damper for housing concept

The build-and-sell concept will not take off because of the current global economic situation, said Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan.

However, the Government welcomed developers wanting to execute the new concept and as encouragement, some incentives would be given to them, he added.

The Government had to take into consideration various issues including the financial aspect when implementing the new system.

“The Government is very careful (in implementing the new concept), not because we want to protect the developers, but because the housing industry is very important as it creates lots of job opportunities,” Ong said after launching SP Setia’s 5:95 home loan package here yesterday.

He added that if the Government was not careful enough, it may kill the housing industry.

Unlike the big developers, the smaller players may fail to gain the confidence of the banking sector to acquire loans to start their projects, Ong said.

The ministry had suggested running the new concept parallel with the existing housing development system, he said.

He said the new system would be implemented when the infrastructure was ready and the financial institutions well prepared.

Some 100,000 housing units are built every year and 2.7 million units had been built in the past 25 years.

Ong said there were some 80,000 units abandoned initially but the Government managed to salvage many projects and brought down the number by 40,000. - The Star

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