Demak Sari 2
Following the letter dated 7th May 2007 from HDC, I have revised the Demak Sari layout. My latest proposal removes the shop/apartment ‘Kotapuri’ element and replaces it with ‘Lamanpuri Townhouses’. With this change there are no low-cost houses, but the new design still provides a layout where most of the housing units are in the affordable category costing below RM150,000.
Because the decision has been made not to provide flats, the new layout has increased the number of townhouses such that about 23% of the units provided are below RM100,000. Another 22% are priced just around RM105,000.
Now, with the Demak Sari 2 concept, I am very happy to propose a solution where the range of products caters is still affordable:
Furthermore, the development of this proposed mix of housing, taking into account construction local cost 25% higher than Semenanjung, is shown to yield a profit of over 14% of sales. As such, my hope is for HDC to see this as a possible generic solution for providing affordable urban housing in Sarawak.
In the Demak Sari layout proposal, there are additional housetypes (now called Lamanpuri)
THE ‘LAMANPURI’HONEYCOMB TOWNHOUSES
Introduction
With land becoming more and more expensive, and with construction costs that go up and up, developers find that constructing single storey houses are no more profitable. They prefer to build the more expensive double storey houses which can be sold at a better price. This has resulted in a drying-up of the supply of new single storey houses in the price category below that of the two-storey/3 bedroom/2 bathroom terrace house (that would sell for, taking Kajang as an example, RM160,000 to RM200,000), but above that of the apartment (up to RM90,000). This is the niche where a relatively new building-type, known in Malaysia as the “Townhouse” has tried to fill. However, the typical 24’X 80’ Townhouse suffers from the following defects:
- Insufficient external wall area to place windows, making the internal air-well necessary.
- The street comprise gate after gate, with hardly any place for visitor on-street parking.
- There is a small garden, but only for the ground floor unit.
The “Lamanpuri” Townhouse is a new alternative to the conventional townhouse building type. It was designed to overcome the disadvantages stated above, In particular it seeks to provide housebuyers who can afford up to RM120,000, but do not want to live in a conventional apartment.
