Assalamualaikum/hi

Just wondering... let's say I've got a land of about 4000 square feet, and I'm planning to build my own house, what kind of house (and how big) can I build with just RM150k? And if it's a single storey house, any idea how big/type of house can I build?

thank you very much

U can build a nice house out from timber with that amount of money but getting a good carpenter is a problem.

a bungalow maybe cost around rm150-200 per sqft

hmm..if RM 150 per sqft with RM 150000 I can only build a 1000 sqft house ...

The building floor plate will be determined by the plot dimension of your land.
You have to allow set back for bldg line to the surrounding road, and the neighbouring plot.

The cost will depends if you can tap off utilities like water, electricity supplies as well as sewarage treatment plant that u can tap off from your plot. The other thing that will vary your per sq ft cost of bldg is the material used

That's correct. You can lower the cost per sqft by choosing cheaper finishing materials (e.g. your flooring, wall tiles, roof tiles, sanitary wares, etc).

it depends on what kind of material you're planning to use.

you could probably get some tips from those low cost government housing??? Those cost around that much too right?

if a house with only 1000sqt, it will not be called bangalow.

You'll need permits etc. I don't think you can build a house just like that, even if you own the land

a low cost unit, be it apt or 2 storey terrace does not cost RM150,000 just for construction cost!

You'll have to pay architects and consultants right? and they're not cheap you'll need water and electricity


This post has been edited by wodenus: Feb 1 2009, 03:24 PM

last year an uncle of mine built his retired kampung house in lumut, the house is a one storey with 4 room 2 bathroom.

All cost around RM120,000. It just a basic house with his own design and no ceiling below the roof..

Really? water and electricity and everything? do you have his architects/planners/consultants number ?

Low cost housing costs much less than 150k in construction cost.

---

Added on February 1, 2009, 5:10 pmThat's not correct. Generally the term "bungalow" means a detached house with its own compound. 1000 sqft just means it's a rather small bungalow.

This post has been edited by jchong: Feb 1 2009, 05:10 PM

At the minimum you'll need the local council to approve your building plans.

---

Added on February 1, 2009, 5:16 pmYou'll need the architect to prepare the building plans (they also help to submit for you). I know that many architects in KL charge according to % of the building cost (heard it's about 8-10%). Probably also need the civil engineer to do the RC plan.

This post has been edited by jchong: Feb 1 2009, 05:16 PM

On the issue of how big, the thing you must remember is the set back requirements. For bungalows generally it is 10' from the back and the side and 20' from the front.

For example if your 4000 sqft land is of 50' (W) x 80' (L) size, then the theoretical maximum footprint of your house is 30' (W) x 50' (L).

Of course consultant fees are part of cost.
Maybe not a good idea to compare cost with mass low cost housing scheme.
BTW, in developer's context, construction cost does not include consultants' fees,which is a separate item.
With govt controlled price of RM 22k to RM30k per unit, if bldg cost + consultants' fee = Rm150k +...pensan liao!!
With the mass low cost housing , consultant fees are spread over the numbers, so per unit cost comes down comparatively vs a single unit.

TS disappeared ?

I'm sure they make a loss on the low-cost units but the profits from the high-end ones more than make up for it

Yes. M'sian housing works on cross subsidy model.
The major cost components are infrastructure and land cost.
But, no the construction cost itself doesn't come up to 150k @.
RM100 -150 psf of built -up (exclude infra , consultants' fees) is more for bungalow plots

bkt beruntung kut?

@wodenus,
If it's a planned low-cost unit, developers do NOT lose $ on it!

How do they not lose money on it ?

@wodenus,
siGh.. trust me lah... no developers will do it if they lose $.. have U ever come across a businessman who'd be willing to lose $ in his biz?! And we're talking about these china-pek property tycoons here in MY!!

Firstly, low cost units are generally small in size so the quantity of materials used is less.

Then, lower cost materials are used. Example: use pre-cast concrete slabs as walls (cheaper and also faster to erect, so save on labour as well). Or if bricks are used then sand bricks instead of clay. Similarly, cement roof tiles instead of clay. Cheaper paint. Grade B tiles. Etc...

I think it is possible to break even for low cost houses.

@jchong,
Bear in mind developers purchase in bulk. The prices they get for raw materials are much much much much lower than what we can get. Therefore.....

If that was possible, we can say that the baseline cost of a livable house is 22K, which can't be possible can it? land + materials + labour for 22K?

@wodenus,
I'm telling U it IS possible!! I'm not going to be able to show U actual P&Ls but take it from me that it is possible.... though it's not something I want to be living in

Wow. Of course you live on Elitist Road (maybe literally LOL ) but where can I find someone who can get land and build a house for 22K ?

I thought low cost housing is priced not exceeding 42K.

@wodenus,
There's a reason it's called LOW COST! And how on earth did U know I lived on Jalan Elitist - U haven't been stalking me, or have U?! hAHahAHhaHAhahA

There were press reports of approval of rising the price for low cost houses up to 42k or 45k; esp in big cities
But in practice the prices are controlled by the state govt. I've yet to see any LC houses going for the max price.
Anyone aware of any of these schemes?...if yes, probably under the jurisdiction of DBKL??

Whether developer can actually make money from low cost houses depends very much on land cost.
There are schemes where developer makes a small margin.
Most times, low cost parcels are loss making , where the non low cost houses are priced to absorb the subsidy in the low cost houses.

One more thing is the way low cost housing is treated in the books of developers.
Land cost for LC is usually given a very low weightage. In practice , the acquisation cost is the same, whether it is LC or otherwise.

My assumptions already factor in the bulk factor of developers.


Firstly, why do you work on the figure of 22K? Low cost housing is 42K and under.

For materials + labour the cost definitely can be much under 42K. You can build a house for under 42K but it would be a small house and using the cheapest building materials around. But is that the kind of house you want?

The wild card is land cost. In established areas the land cost will make low cost housing impossible and impractical (the land cost would exceed the building cost).

sabah sarawak, in the middle of the jungle lol!

I've not looked into low cost housing in the big cities so I don't know how they are priced out there.

Yeah, you're right that land cost is a major consideration. In Klang Valley, I suspect that low cost parcels are loss making but subsidised by the non-low cost units (unless the developer got the land cheap/free from the state govt ).

Yup, in practice acquisition cost is the same. Developer purchases a large parcel of land at a given cost. In the subdivision, they are then asked to allocate lots for low cost. Up to this stage, I'd say the price per sq ft is the same. However, when it comes to payment of land premium then the low cost parcels would be charged less.

oKie.. the next time I meet up with the group of developer friends of mine, I'll ask them if they make $ from their low cost parcels n will report back here `k?

I still believe they do!

Our Govt like to think that developers can make $$ from LC.

Some developers have even offered to state govt.."I give u the land free lah, u go and built and take the money as well"..that's how bad the situation is for some developers.

If we want to discuss about low cost housing in m'sia, tak boleh habis bincang.
Rehda has been in discussion with authorities for ages but no concrete results.
For political reasons, the govt will want to maintain status quo

Someone said 22K earlier... so it's 42K ? actually I've half a mind to do that.. get a small piece of land in the middle of nowhere, build a small toilet. Then set up one of these :

http://www.dezeen.com/wp-content/uploads/2...far-wal-016.jpg

hohoho.. thank you all for joining this discussion...
btw I didn't disappear, I thought this topic was dead since only 3 people replied after a few days I posted it.. it seems now i have to go out to see how can I make more money so can I have a bigger house.. hoho

anyway I just downloaded the ebook 'Build Your Own House' from www.byoh.com .. perhaps my last resort to save money is by start building my own house...

It's up to 42K maximum.

Interesting picture you have there. What kind of structure is it? Will it survive long in our tropical climate?

Regarding getting "a small piece of land in the middle of nowhere" I think the problem is getting the "small" piece of land. Out in the middle of nowhere, land is usually sold as big lots - think in terms of acres. So while the price per sq ft is very low, the total amount will be high when you multiply by the acres.

Yes, the low cost housing policy is a thorn in the side of developers. But I've heard there are ways to get around it.

Don't see any low cost housing in Bandar Utama right? Nor in Mutiara Damansara unless I'm mistaken.

It will be very unique that's for sure, it's time we stopped living in cement prisons eh ? we have nice weather, but we stay in houses that are more easily heated than cooled

@jchong,
BU got away without low-cost housing but I don't think developers are able to do that anymore. Even the Valencia township has low-cost houses - it's just not marketed as part of the development but it's there if U know where to find it

BU probably has low cost houses as well.. maybe in some corner that's not called BU but yea to build a vacation place, maybe a parcel of land near the sea, where you can go away for a while and fish and plant vegetables

@wodenus,
No, BU doesn't have low cost houses - it was a topic which was discussed at lengths previously [perhaps not on this forum but amongst developers akin]

This post has been edited by tinkerbel: Feb 3 2009, 02:08 PM

I heard that BU got away with it by allocating more school reserves (that's why there are so many schools in BU).

Another tactic I've heard is the developer buys a cheaper land elsewhere and use that as their low cost reserve. So whenever they are asked to provide low cost housing, instead of allocating it in their present land they will negotiate for it to be put in their low cost reserve.

@jchong,
Ah well.. in this country, nothing's impossible However, I think it's difficult for developers to get such approvals from now