Within just a few hours, Mah Sing Group and the Federal Government jointly sold 500 houses at the 660-unit Seri Wahyu Residence in Kampung Batu on Wednesday, 29 March.

The development is part of Phase I of the Federal Territories Affordable Homes Programme (Rumawip). It is also the largest project under the scheme, which targets to construct a total of 80,000 homes by 2020.

Officials started accepting an application for the Rumawip units on 21 February, and balloting was conducted by Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor at Mah Sing's Lakeville Residence Sales Gallery on 29 March.

"On the first day Rumawip was open for applications, we received an enthusiastic response with around 1,000 applicants" said the Federal Territories Minister.

"We want to give the opportunity to first-time buyers and not speculators so the moratorium on the units is a period of 10 years, as we hope those investing in it will keep the units for their children in the future.”

Moreover, Tengku Adnan is challenging other developers to build affordable housing projects on privately owned land, just like what Mah Sing is doing with Seri Wahyu Residence, as Rumawip houses are typically constructed on government land.

Located 2km away from Sri Delima MRT station, Seri Wahyu Residence consists of a 35-storey residential tower that is expected to be completed by 2020. Priced at RM300,000, each unit has a floor area of 74.8 sq m (805 sq ft) and comes with two bathrooms and three rooms, along with one covered car park.

"Mah Sing has informed us that they are in discussions with MRT to provide a shuttle service for the convenience of the Rumawip residents" noted Tengku Adnan.

Meanwhile, Mah Sing Group Managing Director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum is urging the federal government to persuade landowners to sell their property at affordable prices to reduce the financial burden of the buyers.

"Although it is our first Rumawip project, we have had a hand in other affordable housing projects such as Rumah Selangorku and the Johor Affordable Homes programme" he added.