The soon-to-be-implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) will not affect the prices of houses under the 1Malaysia People's Housing (PR1MA) programme, said PR1MA Corporation chairman Tan Sri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis.

Jamaludin said, on the contrary, the corporation guaranteed that PR1MA houses would be 20 percent lower than market prices.

"We do not want to sell the houses too expensively or too cheaply, if the price is too expensive the lower income group cannot afford it," he told reporters after visiting the Bandar Utama project site at Sidam Kiri, here, Sunday.

Meanwhile, Jamaludin said the rent-to-own scheme was also offered for applicants who could not obtain housing loans from the bank.

"We understand that many applicants, whether in urban or rural areas do not have a fixed income and no payslip, but they are also entitled to get PR1MA homes," he said.

However, Jamaludin said the scheme would only be offered to registered buyers under PR1MA, who had applied to at least three banks and were still unable to secure a housing loan.

He said 2,744 units of PR1MA homes would be built in Sungai Petani with a starting price of RM118,000 and to date it had received 1,872 applications for the first phase involving 970 housing units.

"I am confident that these housing units will be completed by the end of this year," he said.