Housing for young couples below 30 open to all races, says Khairy

Lending a hand: Khairy (centre), Abdul Rahman (right) and other officials discussing about the transit homes in Bukit Jalil.

KUALA LUMPUR: The first “transit homes” for young married couples are almost ready and expected to be fully occupied by early next year.

The 1Malaysia Transit Home project, which consists of two blocks at the People’s Housing Project (PPR) in Bukit Jalil here, can house 632 couples.

The project is for young couples below 30 who are working in the Klang Valley and have a combined household income of less than RM3,000.

It allows the couples to stay in the 650sq ft units – each of which has three rooms and two bathrooms – for a maximum of two years while paying only RM250 in rent each month.

To be eligible for the housing, the couple cannot own any other property in the Klang Valley.

Youth and Sports Minister and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the project, which the wing mooted at the Umno general assembly last year, was open to all races.

“It gives them a place to live while paying very low rent for two years until they manage to find a permanent home and are more financially stable,” he said.

Blocks L and M would be ready by the end of January, but couples could move into Block L by early that month, he said after visiting the newly refurbished units.

Khairy said Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan had agreed to make the transit homes a Government policy.

“He has agreed that in any PPR project, at least 10% of the units will be allocated as transit homes.

“There are now PPR schemes being developed in Kepong, Kuala Terengganu, Johor Baru and Kota Kinabalu,” he said.

Abdul Rahman, who also inspected the units, said that over 4,000 couples had applied for the transit homes.

“We will soon be announcing another major collaboration with the Youth and Sports Ministry – the Youth City.

“We have had our preliminary meetings to determine the locations and concept and will be announcing the locations early next year – one in the peninsula, one in Sabah and one in Sarawak,” he said. - The Star