GEORGE TOWN: Penang will not do away with the requirement to build low-cost (LC) and low medium-cost (LMC) housing because people need such homes.

State Town and Country Planning and Housing Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the state government would ensure that developers continue to build LC and LMC houses.

'The compliance component of 30% for all normal developments will continue because the people need such housing.'

He said developers had to adhere to guidelines provided by the state.

'Our guidelines are clear. We have got size control. If you are going to build a RM150,000 unit, you are going to build it at 750sq ft.

'We don't allow you to build chicken coops. I will not tolerate developers who are profit-minded only,' he told a press conference in Jalan Scotland yesterday in response to Real Estate and Housing Developers Association's (Rehda) appeal to the state to do away with the LC housing requirement.

Jagdeep said there should also be more rent-to-own projects.

'We have got several rent-to-own projects. Our pilot project is in Sungai Duri on the mainland,' he said.

On a related matter, he added that an open market category in the affordable housing scheme would entitle an individual to buy the property even though they already owned other properties.

'We will not be looking into their income cap or ownership but they will have to pay a premium,' he said.

He said the premium would be channelled back to the state government not in cash but in housing units.

'From there we will own such units and then decide whether to sell the units to those on the state list or as a rent-to-own,' he added.

The Star on Thursday reported that Rehda Penang branch chairman Datuk Jerry Chan proposed replacing low-cost housing with 'rent-to-own' property scheme to help the poor.

'Under this scheme, tenants would eventually get to own the property after paying rentals for a certain number of years. These '˜rent-to-own' properties should be undertaken by the state government,' he said.

On affordable housing projects priced between RM200,000 and RM400,000, Chan said the present list of first-time homebuyers drawn up by the state government was not reliable.