Khaled (centre) with other guests and15 eligible RMMJ houseowners at the balloting and handing over of keys ceremony at Setia Business Park II in Johor Baru.

JOHOR BARU: The state government will ensure the remaining 44,000 units from the 60,000 units to be built under the Johor Affordable Houses (RMMJ) are delivered to eligible first-time housebuyers by 2020.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled said 5,000 units would be handed over this year with another 5,000 units by the end of 2019.

He said initially 60,000 units were planned to be built by private developers and state-linked companies when the RMMJ housing scheme was launched in 2013.

“However, we decided to increase the number to 100,000 units , with the delivery period extended to 2023,’’ said Khaled.

He said this during the handing over of house keys for Laman Indah 2, RMMJ, by Eco World Development Group Bhd in Mukim Tebrau, adjacent to Eco World’s Eco Springs project here.

Laman Indah 2 consists of 146 units of double-storey link houses priced at RM150,000 each and come with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Also present at the event were Eco World chairman Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, president and chief executive officer Datuk Chang Khim Wah, Tebrau MP Datuk Khoo Soo Siang, Johor Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Md Jais Sarday and Tiram assemblyman Datuk Maulizan Bujang.

Khaled said with 100,000 units, Johor will have the highest number of affordable houses built in the country and also the cheapest in terms of pricing compared with other states.

There are three types of affordable houses under the scheme – RMMJ houses priced at RM150,000 each and Perumahan Komuniti Johor Type A and Type B, at RM40,000 and RM80,000 respectively.

“We have handed over 16,000 units of the houses to eligible first-time houseowners since 2013,” he said.

Khaled said more units were being built as feedback from buyers showed they preferred landed residential properties instead of high-rise units.

He said, however, that there were still high-rise apartments under the affordable housing scheme to cater to those who preferred strata-title properties.

Khaled said Eco World had launched 543 units of Type B houses at RM80,000 per unit consisting of two 12-storey apartment blocks expected to be completed within the next three years.