Penang New Housing Rules

The Penang state government has announced new housing rules, hoping to curb property speculation. Starting from 1st February 2014, foreigners will be subjected to a 3% tax on the property price. On top of that,  foreigners can only purchase properties worth more than RM 1 million, while they will only be allowed to buy landed property on the island if the value exceeds RM 2 million.

The state will also impose a 2% levy on property sold within three years of purchase, excluding affordable housing. A moratorium of ten years will be applied to low-cost homes costing up to RM 42000 and low-medium cost homes worth up to RM 72500 and covers all past and future purchases. On the other hand, a moratorium of five years will also be imposed on the sale of affordable housing, which covers houses worth no more than RM 400000 on the island and a maximum of RM 250000 on the mainland.

For low-cost homes, low-medium cost homes and affordable homes, homeowners who wish to sell their property before the end of the moratorium will need to get state approval and can only sell to listed buyers who have registered with the state’s housing department and meet income requirements.

There are 10 locations for the new low-cost and affordable housing projects, namely Jalan S.P. Chelliah, Teluk Kumbar, Jelutong and Pintasan Cecil on the island and Batu Kawan, Kampung Jawa, Mak Mandin, Ampang Jajar, Bukit Mertajam and Juru on the mainland. In conjunction with this, the state's housing department has updated the housing registration system - erumah. Those who are interested can download the application form via erumah.

All application forms can be submitted at Level 3 in Komtar or at the state assemblymen service centres. The deadline to submit the application forms for houses in Jalan S.P. Chelliah is 31st March 2014. For those applying for houses at other locations, the deadline is 30th June 2014.

Penang State Government Affordable Housing Details

As mentioned earlier in the first post, there are two projects under the Penang State Government Affordable Housing. The first one is the Jalan S.P. Chelliah project in Penang Island and the second one is the Bandar Cassia project in Batu Kawan, Seberang Perai.

There is not much information about the project in Jalan S.P. Chelliah. There are only artist illustration of the project and the location map shared at the registration counter. The project is situated at the prime location in Georgetown as you can see from the map above. Below is the artist illustration of the project.

However there are a lot of information on Bandar Cassia. Bandar Cassia will be the major housing development by Penang state government. It is strategically located with just 5 minutes away from Penang Second Bridge.

This is the town planning of Bandar Cassia.

The artist illustration of Bandar Cassia.

The project opens for registration this time is Bandar Cassia Phase 1.

The floor plan for 800 sqft unit.

The floor plan for 900 sqft unit.

The floor plan for 1000 sqft unit.

The registration counters are open during the Chinese New Year holidays. Do visit for more information if you are interested on the projects. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Penang State Government Affordable Housing Registration

Penang State Government's affordable housing project is open for registration starting from today! I've visited MPSP Bandar Perda to get more information about this project.

The criteria to apply for the Low Medium Cost house and Affordable house are as below:

1. Malaysian, aged 21 and above.
2. Household income (base salary) per month not more than RM 3500.00 for Low Medium Cost house (maximum RM 72500.00).
3. Household income (base salary) per month more than RM 3501.00 for Affordable house (from RM 72501.00 and above).
4. For Low Medium Cost house, applicant and spouse must not own any house.
5. For Affordable house, priority will be given to those who are buying first house.
6. Priority will be given to all registered voters in Penang.

If you are eligible, you might proceed to get the application form, fill up your personal details, current address, occupation, monthly base income (personal and spouse) and your choices of the project. You need not submit any supporting document at the time of application. A confirmation slip will be returned by the officer when your application form is submitted.

Penang State Government Affordable Housing Project

Good news to all Penangites! The Penang State Government's affordable housing projects located at Jalan S.P. Chelliah in Penang Island and Bandar Cassia in Batu Kawan will be open to public for registration starting from 7th February 2013.

If you are interested in the affordable housing projects, you may walk in to counter in Komtar, PDC or MPSP Bandar Perda to register, operating hour is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m everyday including Chinese New Year holidays and weekends. All Malaysians can apply but priority will be given to Penangites. The detail criteria of eligibility will be announced later.

Below table shows the details of the affordable housing projects by build up area, number of unit and price:

Project	Category	Size	No. of Unit	Price/unit
Jalan S.P. Chelliah	Medium Cost	1000 sqft	275	RM 400000
		900 sqft	165	RM 300000
		800 sqft	110	RM 200000
	Low Medium Cost	700 sqft	770	RM 72500
Bandar Cassia	Medium Cost	1000 sqft	1092	RM 220000
		900 sqft	392	RM 168000
	Low Medium Cost	800 sqft	596	RM 72500

Affordable Housing - eRumah

Other than pr1ma, there is actually another portal called eRumah, managed by Penang state government. eRumah is a portal for application of Projek Perumahan Rakyat (on rental basis), Low Cost Houses and Medium Low Cost Houses.

Below are the basic requirements to be eligible to apply:

• Malaysian
• 18 years old and above
• Never own a house (including house that had been sold)
• To apply for Projek Perumahan Rakyat, monthly total household income cannot be more than RM 1500
• To apply for Low Cost Houses, monthly total household income cannot be more than RM 2500
• To apply for Medium Low Cost Houses, monthly total household income cannot be more than RM 3500

Every application for Low/Medium Low Cost Houses will be proceed by the system according to place of birth, marital status, dependent, time of registration, years staying in Penang and so on. Priority will be given to those with family and dependent of at least 5.

If you fulfill the basic requirements, then you can proceed to register/check your eligibility by entering your IC number at the top right corner.

If you are not eligible, you will see below message.

Else, you can proceed for the registration. Just fill in all the required information correctly and choose the type and location (district) of houses that you wish to apply for. Once you complete the registration, you can always come back to the same portal to check for the application status.