The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC) is ramping up efforts to develop housing projects for its lower and middle class citizens, recently inking a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with contracting firm Bun Ches Groups Co., Ltd. to cooperate on a new $88 million residential scheme.

The MoU was signed last Thursday at a ceremony presided over by Chea Sophara, Senior Minister and the MLMUPC minister.

The affordable housing project, to be located at the Sleng Dei Dos village of Ponhea Leu district in Kandal province, will target civil servants, the armed forces as well as moderate and low income citizens.

Bun Ches, founder and chairman of Bun Ches Groups Co., Ltd., which specialises in house renovations, said the company will be responsible for managing the design and launch of the housing project.

“The Group has many years of experience in construction and has completed several projects in Cambodia such as Toul Kork Warehouse, town houses such as the Mekong View Tower and other projects. This is the company’s fourth construction project,” Ches told Post Property.

Ches said an affordable house in the complex would cost between $23,500 and $24,800 per unit and would require a 30 percent deposit. Monthly payments would be less than $200 a month, Chess added.

The complex will comprise 5,340 units in total, while school, health care and shopping facilities will also be on site.

Seng Lot, a spokesman for the MLMUPC, welcomed the government’s move to proceed with a low-cost housing project.

“It is a good joint cooperation between the ministry and Bun Ches Groups to process the second development on affordable housing,” he said.

While more details will need to be released to determine the projects housing classification, Cambodia has already started to make headway on providing housing for the low-income group with the development being spearheaded by Worldbridge Land.

The debut housing project will prioritise families whose monthly income is less than $500. The project is also located in Kandal province. Set to house government officials, houses are priced between $25,000 to $30,000.

For the second and latest low-cost housing initiative, neither Bun Ches nor the ministry would disclose the financial terms of the project, reveal details of how the project would be paid for or if the project would attempt to generate a financial return for the company and/or government.

Affordable or low-cost housing is generally aimed at assisting the poorest groups within a community by providing subsidised housing, as opposed to being focused on generating a return.