Penang govt wants to buy back low cost homes from 'rich' owners

GEORGE TOWN (Bernama): The Penang government may buy back low and medium cost homes of owners who have become richer and has set up a special committee to look into this.

"The state government may take back these units which will then be channelled to new applications under the new system," said Jagdeep Singh Deo (pic), chairman of the State Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee.

"We also want to ensure unit stocks are sufficient to be offered to eligible buyers and not be rented to third parties. 

"It is stipulated that the owners must occupy these units and not put them up for rent,” he said during the winding up session at the State Assembly today.

Jagdeep Singh said the committee was set up to look into whether new housing schemes, where low and medium cost units are sold, can still be property of the state government through a leasehold method.

He said the committee will be responsible to fine tune the policy, apart from making recommendations to the respective local authorities.

Jagdeep Singh also told the assembly that the state government was now giving priority to ICT infrastructure to attain its smart cities vision by 2030.

Meanwhile, Kebun Bunga assemblyman Jason Ong Khan Lee proposed that road use charges be imposed on non-Penang registered vehicles entering  the state.

He said this was necessary to alleviate traffic congestion which was becoming increasingly chronic. - Bernama