Entitlement slips for units in an affordable housing project to be built in the vicinity of Hpa-an’s Industrial Zone, Kayin State, are already being bought and sold, local real-estate agents have told Myitmakha News Agency.
The ‘slips’, which require the holder to pay off the value of the affordable housing unit with a sum of K30,000 a month over a period of 30 years, reportedly went on sale to those entitled to buy them back on January 26 earlier this year, with payments starting to be made this July.
“The slips are currently fetching K500,000 each. They were issued out in January with the first installments required to be made from July. But those who received the slips resold them after just a couple of months of making payments, citing an array of excuses from not being able to continue to afford installments to being relocated to a different region with work. The market price for the slips includes two months of payments already made,” said Ko Zaw Lay, a real-estate agent from Hpa-an.
The affordable housing project is comprised of 2,560 studio apartments measuring 20 by 30 feet across a three-story building, and is earmarked for construction nearby the Hpa-an – Hlaingbwe highroad in Nyein Chan Thar Yar San Pya village through the concerted efforts of the Mya Htay Kywe Lin and Infrastructure of Myanmar companies.
The majority of individuals who have purchase housing slips are from Yangon, Hpa-an and the Myanmar – Thai border town of Myawady. Buyers reportedly include those who desire to live in the housing-estate as well as business opportunists who anticipate an increase in value of the housing slips once the project has been fully implemented.
“I live in Myawady. I’ve bought [a slip] so that I can have a base in Hpa-an, allowing me to travel and stay there freely. A sum of just K30,000 a month must be paid, so the housing unit can be paid-off slowly. I bought my slip for K440,000 with two month’s worth of installment having already been paid on it,” said Ma Nan Thandar, a resident of Myawady.
A member of staff from the Mya Htay Kywe Lin Company, who wished to remain anonymous, told Myitmakha News Agency that he believes the reselling of the slips is due in part to no action being taken by the company against such activities, highlighting a need for all official documentation relating to the slips to be systematically exchanged between buyers and sellers, while the company themselves did not intend for such to happen, issuing out the slips to people through a lucky draw system.
“Of course, it’s something buyers [of the slips] need to check; that they have the contract and receipts for all paid installments. I’m not in a position to say whether the buying and selling [of slips in this manner] is legal or not. Those that have purchased the slips will naturally try and resell them should they encounter any problems. There needs to be a level of trust between buyers and sellers,” he said.
But chair of the Mya Htay Kywe Lin Company, U Saw Than Mya spoke confidently on the matter at a public consultation on the housing project’s implementation, which is yet to be confirmed, held in Hpa-an’s City Hall at the start of September, during which he stated that slip holders are entitled to resell their slips as long as it means no disruption or delays to the regular monthly payments of K30,000.
It has been estimated that construction of the Hpa-an’s affordable housing project will take two years, with a tentative completion date of July 2018. The housing project has been divided up with 30 per cent allocated to Myanmar citizens, 40 per cent set aside for regional government staff and civil servants, with the remaining 30 per cent given to the companies responsible for the building of the housing estate. The project is reportedly being implemented on 20 acres of land bought from regional government.—Myitmakha News Agency
Source: The Global New Light Of Myanmar
