Mohamed Khaled (third from right) with state Housing and Local Government committee chairman Datuk Abdul Latiff (third from left) and JCorp president and CEO Datuk Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim (second from left) at the groundbreaking ceremony.

JOHOR BARU: The state government has stressed that it will not increase prices for the affordable homes project to ensure the rakyat can own property, especially in urban areas.

The price for Rumah Mampu Milik Johor (RMMJ) has been set at RM150,000 while houses under package B are RM80,000 and package A, RM40,000.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said developers for the RMMJ programme were not allowed to increase the price as it was the government’s ambition to provide affordable homes here.

He said it was the government’s policy to bring balance in every development being carried out in Johor and not merely focus on commercial aspects.

“We have decided to maintain the price for RMMJ and there will be a discount price.

"The government does not intend to follow Selangor as we want to help the rakyat here.

“We will continue with the affordable price despite the economic challenges,” he told reporters after the groundbreaking ceremony of Bandar Baru Majidee here yesterday.

Bandar Baru Majidee is a mixed-development project encompassing the construction of Majidee Solaris, a 36-storey, eight-block service apartment and a shopping mall, and includes 320 RMMJ units on a 15.4ha land within the city area.

Mohamed Khaled pointed out that despite RMMJ being built on commercial land and incurring a high cost for its construction, the government would not change its decision pertaining to the price set.

“For example, the price of this affordable home could reach about RM300,000 per unit but the state wants to make sure the price remains the same,” he said.

He added that at the same time, the government would be committed to continue building affordable homes due to the high demand, with 140,000 applicants already registered online.

“Since we introduced RMMJ back in 2013 until now, more than 11,000 units have and will be built.

“This year alone, we expect 6,403 units to be constructed,” he said.