BANGI, Nov 14
In line with the Government's call to develop affordable homes, Mah Sing Group Bhd will focus on building houses that range between RM400,000 and RM500,000 each next year, according to group chief executive officer and executive director Ng Chai Yong.

Sitting on a land-bank of 1,505ha that is ripe for development, Ng said that the company had been acquiring sizeable land to develop affordable houses for the last two years.

Touted as the largest non-government owned developer in the country, the land is estimated to generate development with a gross development value (GDV) of RM66bil and will keep Mah Sing busy for the next 10 years.

To ensure that it was able to produce more affordable housing for Malaysians, he said the group was consistently reviewing designs to be cost-effective.

An example of such designed homes were houses in Taman Wahyu, Kuala Lumpur that were put up in the market starting from RM500,000.

"We had a lot of buyers and most of them were first-time home buyers," said Ng after the ground-breaking ceremony for the Southville City @KL South's direct interchange access connecting the North-South Expressway to areas within Bangi on Wednesday.

Discussing the group's progress in producing affordable housing this year, Ng said the projects were concentrated in the Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Penang and Kota Kinabalu and that they were all in various stages.

In support of affordable homes, especially for first-time home owners, the group launched the new block, Block C1, of Southville City's first phase called Savanna Executive Suites, offering serviced apartments from 956 sq ft priced from RM350,000 onwards.

Mah Sing's Southville City@KL South is a sustainable mixed-use gated and guarded township which promotes urban lifestyle outside the city centre and aims to draw both multi-generation living and the working community.

Mah Sing is also working towards building a vibrant and sustainable business and commercial hub within Southville City which will also benefit the surrounding neighbourhoods.

The 173ha freehold Southville City@KL South, which has an estimated gross development value of RM8.3bil, is a 25km drive away from Kuala Lumpur via the new direct interchange.

The interchange will open a direct access and is anticipated to effectively connect Southville City with its entire surrounding educational, industrial and residential neighbourhood within Bangi and beyond.

Mah Sing chairman Tan Sri Yaacob Mat Zain said that the introduction of the new interchange was value adding and commitment to the convenience of the residents as well as continuous growth of the township.

"We believe that this access will not only benefit the residents of Southville City but also its surrounding neighbourhood," he added.

The interchange is expected to be completed by 2018, coinciding with the first phase development, Savanna Executive Suites.

Aside from the new interchange, the Mass Rapid Transit construction in the years to come will make Southville City@KL South more accessible for residents and those living in and around Bangi.

There are over 3,000 units of Savanna Executive Suites up for sale and Mah Sing targets to sell them off within the first quarter of 2015.

Southville City@KL South Show Village and Sales Gallery in Bangi is open daily from 10am to 6pm.

For more information, visit www.southville-city.com