KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 8): The Housing and Local Government Ministry will be combining five existing agencies to form a single entity, tentatively known as the National Affordable Housing Council, to streamline and coordinate the development of affordable housing in the country.

Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the ministry is looking to consolidate the 1Malaysia People's Housing Scheme (PR1MA), UDA Holdings Bhd, Syarikat Perumahan Negara Sdn Bhd (SPNB), Housing Programme for the Hardcore Poor (PPRT) and 1Malaysia Civil Servants Housing (PPA1M).

"This proposed single entity will be ensured to approach private developers with the correct guidelines and engagements on affordable housing.

"Coupled with a sound public policy to address the issue at hand, I believe it will be essential in promoting greater strategic and operational cohesion at the national level," Zuraida said during her keynote address at the Industry-Government Open Dialogue event today.

She added that the merging of the initial five bodies aims to provide a consolidated approach in addressing the affordable housing issue as well as avoid any overlapping of affordable housing projects.

Besides that, the federal government will be collaborating with state governments to identify land for affordable housing projects, with the minister highlighting that only 27 pieces of land out of the 127 affordable housing projects were supplied by states.

She said Putrajaya has given the state governments until the end of October to submit a list of vacant lands that could be used to develop affordable housing projects.

"If they don't give their land, we won't build houses for them, to put it simply. So far I have received good response from the chief ministers.

"Currently only 27 of the lands were given by state governments and the rest are private land, which has made land cost expensive. Now we are having this policy where the state governments must give their lands and by doing so, we hope to reduce the price of the houses," she said at a press conference following the event.