Singles from the bottom 40 percent (B40) income group working in the capital can start applying to rent shared space units under the Kuala Lumpur City Hall urban housing programme from August, Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan said today.

The Kuala Lumpur mayor noted that they can make their applications on the DBKL website, and that it would accept 188 tenants under the first phase and 135 under the second phase.

“Applications for the first phase starts in August, and they are expected to start renting the units from October at a low rate of RM100 per person,” he told reporters after reviewing the urban housing project in Kuala Lumpur today.

“We hope this will help lessen the burden among youngsters in need of accommodation in the early stage of their working life in the city,” he said, adding that DBKL had allocated about RM7 million to renovate the interior of the two blocks of seven-storey buildings on Lot 54 and 56 on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

Nor Hisham said among the conditions set were that the applicants had to be Malaysian citizens, aged between 18 and 35, earning less than RM2,000 a month, working in the capital, and not owning a house or a car.

He said this would be its pioneer project in expanding the facility in public places.

“DBKL will also reuse old buildings for this purpose and among the areas being considered include around Chow Kit,” he said.

Meanwhile, DBKL project implementation and building management senior deputy director Norzaini Noordin said the programme was based on the shared space concept, with each floor of the seven-storey buildings containing four to five units, each measuring 7m squared. 

Each unit will have three to six beds as well as cupboards.

Norzaini Noordin said tenants could add small furniture items, like tables, chairs or racks, as long as it was within the guidelines. 

Among the facilities provided in the urban housing programme were parking spaces for bicycles and motorcycles, lounge areas, surau, supervisors' offices, laundrettes, reading areas, pantries and toilets.

“We will also place people with disabilities on the ground floor to facilitate their movement,” she said.

- Bernama