D

aniel Kanda and Adriana Paramitha could not hide their disappointment after thoroughly studying a housing-complex brochure distributed by marketing staff during an exhibition on subsidized houses, held at Taman Palem Mall in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, on Sunday.

The couple had visited a number of booths at the exhibition and narrowed down their options to the housing complex offered in the brochure, which attracted their attention because they could afford the down payment and monthly installments.

'€œThe problem is that the housing complex is located very far from my office and my wife'€™s,'€ Daniel told The Jakarta Post.

The housing complex he was talking about was located in Rajeg district, Tangerang, Banten, which is approximately 40 kilometers from the couple'€™s workplaces in Tomang, West Jakarta. The district, which is around 45 kilometers away from the capital'€™s major thoroughfare of Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta, was among popular areas offered for subsidized-housing complexes at the exhibition.

According to brochures distributed during the event, a 30-square meter house on a 60-square-meter plot of land was tagged between Rp 100 million (US$7,941) to Rp 120 million, and people would only need to pay a down payment of Rp 12 million along with just less than Rp 1 million in monthly installments for 15 years.

During the expo, the developers cooperated to subsidize low-income citizens by providing a fixed home-loan interest rate of 7.25 percent.

'€œThe price is affordable for us, but if I have to move to Rajeg, my wife'€™s trip to the office could take almost two hours. I think it will be very difficult for her,'€ Daniel said, adding that usually his wife only needs 30 minutes to reach her office.

Daniel and his family currently live in a rented house in Cengkareng with a monthly rent of Rp 800,000. He said he would continue to search for an affordable house located relatively closer to his and his wife'€™s offices because his family would '€œeventually need a permanent place to stay'€.

Another visitor, Siswadi, 37, also voiced a similar desire to live close to his workplace. He said his monthly income of Rp 5 million would enable him to buy one of the houses offered in the exhibition, but he was concerned about the additional expenses for fuel.

'€œMy office is located in Ancol [North Jakarta] and I prefer a closer place to live,'€ he said.

He added that most of the houses in the exhibition did not have good access to main roads, so people would have to walk hundreds of meters to reach public transportation routes. With such a situation, he said he would prefer to stay in his current house with monthly rent of Rp 900,000.

Earlier, the Association of Housing Development in Indonesia (APERSI) highlighted the rising prices of housing and land in Greater Jakarta, which had made the area exclusively for the haves. APERSI said developers are no longer able to build affordable housing in the area.

According to the association, the lowest price for land was between Rp 200,000 and Rp 300,000 per square meter, even in areas outside Greater Jakarta.

• Low-income residents face difficulties finding accessible houses
• Many subsidized-housing complexes available in Rajeg, Tangerang
• Association records rising prices of houses and land in Greater Jakarta