Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government always endeavoured to ensure that every Malaysian including the less affordable groups could afford to have their own home.

He said so far, a total of 83,759 units under the Public Housing Project (PPR) had been completed nationwide for the less affordable group, while another 25,000 units were still in various stages of implementation and were expected to be ready before 2020, with the whole project involving an allocation of RM6 billion.

In addition, he said, the government took the initiative to build PPR houses which had the highest subsidy for the people such as the PPR Sri Aman in Jinjang, here, which were sold at RM35,000 per unit although the original cost was around RM150,000 per unit.

"The market price for the PPR Sri Aman was about RM200,000 per unit, but the government is only offering the units at RM35,000 each to the people.

"It actually also raised the asset wealth of the people, because the value would rise in future, in fact, it also becomes inherited family property," he said when performing the official opening of the PPR Sri Aman, Jinjang and launching the Youth Transit Housing, here today.

Also present were former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Housing and Urban Wellbeing Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar, Minister of Federal Territories Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Women's Entrepreneurship and Professional Development Advisor Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

Commenting further, Najib said the government was also concerned about the welfare of the youths when providing the youth transit housing for them until they could afford to buy better houses.

"The youth transit housing approach involved the cooperation of the private sector and the government in assisting the youths to rent homes besides saving to buy their dream house,” he said.

So far, he said, 2,010 units of the youth transit housing would be rented out to this group at RM500 per month each.

“Out of the monthly rental of RM500 imposed on them, RM250 would be their monthly savings for five years which would amount to RM15,000 which would form the deposit for the purchase of a new house. This is what we will endeavour to do as the government,” he said.

PPR Sri Aman was built on a 9.82-acre site at a cost of RM216 million. The project comprises four blocks of 19 and 20-storey flats with a total of 1,600 units with a floor area of 700 square feet each.

The PPR, among other things, are equipped with a community hall, surau, child nursery, food court, car parks and mortuary holding area for non-Muslims.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall received 1,000 housing units at PPR Sri Aman from the Housing and Local Government Ministry to accommodate squatters in Jinjang Utara.

-- BERNAMA