Dr Abang Abdul Rauf explains the various housing products by HDC to the media.

KUCHING: Sarawak Housing Development Corporation (HDC) is a provider of a wide range of affordable houses for a wide spectrum of income groups.

Its chairman Datuk Dr Abang Abdul Rauf Abang Zen said HDC was currently offering houses ranging from RM50,400 for a low-cost house to mid-range houses below RM200,000 per unit under ‘Skim Peruhaman Khas Rakyat’ (Spektra) Plus.

“We are a government agency entrusted by the state government to assist the lower-income group to own their own houses,” Dr Abang Abdul Rauf told the media here yesterday.

He added that even in the rural areas there were various housing schemes available for the people including those planning to build new longhouses.

“There is a fund which allows those who want to build a longhouse to apply for a loan of up to RM10,000 to buy building materials. As for the town and city areas, besides low cost and affordable houses, we are also building flats for rent,” he said.

Abang Abdul Rauf said flats for rent served two purposes – to provide temporary shelter to those who just started life in towns and cities, and to provide shelter for those who could not afford to buy their own houses.

On the other hand, under the Spektra categories, there are three types, namely ‘Spektra Lite’ which are affordable houses priced not exceeding RM100,000 for intermediate lots and not exceeding RM120,000 for corner lots.

As for ‘Spektra Medium’ the houses will be priced not exceeding RM135,000 for intermediate lots and not exceeding RM168,000 for corner lots.

For the ‘Spektra Plus’ houses, the prices would not exceed RM150,000 for intermediate lots and not exceeding RM198,000 for corner lots.

Abang Abdul Rauf also said HDC’s plan to build more affordable houses priced below RM250,000 did not mean that HDC would no longer build low costs houses.

He said these houses to be built below RM250,000 would be for the middle-income group earning between RM8,000-RM10,000 per month, who were stuck in the so-called ‘house purchasing trap’ due to their heavy commitment to the banks.

Abang Abdul Rauf added these houses would be built using the modular housing method which is expected to stabilise the price and even would reduce the cost by between 15-20 per cent.

The modular housing method is expected to take off soon with the recent signing of the HoA between HDC through its subsidiary company, Green Modular R & R Bhd (Smart Holding) and Foshan Conceiving Board-Manufacturing Co Ltd (CBM) in Guangzhou, China.

He said with the sealing of the HoA, the vision of the state government could be achieved with the setting up of a modular housing factory in Demak Laut which is strategic enough to become a hub, for exporting these types of houses to neighbouring countries in future.