PR1MA Corp has approved the construction of 20,000 houses under 15 affordable housing projects in Greater Klang Valley, Johor, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak with a gross development value (GDV) of RM5 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Datuk Abdul Mutalib Alias said the projects met the guidelines stipulated under the PR1MA Act 2012 and the first phase had been approved for construction.

He said the 15 new developments would take off under Phase one of the PR1MA housing programme which is dedicated to provide affordable quality housing for the middle-income group living in the country's urban areas.

"While we have earmarked numerous projects in most urban centres, we will only select projects that meet our development guidelines to be part of the PR1MA programme.

"I am confident by the end of the year, we will have more on board to meet the 80,000 PR1MA houses as announced in the 2013 budget," he told reporters here today.

While saying that pricing and floor plans would be announced in the next few months, Abdul Mutalib added that the houses would fetch as low as RM150,000 to a maximum of RM350,000.

Work on three projects have begun in Alam Damai, Pasir Gudang and Seremban, he said.

The Alam Damai project is the first development to take place under PR1MA's plans to build 50,000 houses across strategic locations in the Klang Valley, including Cheras, Bukit Jalil, Sungai Besi, Brickfields, Jelatek, Glenmarie, Putra Heights, Cyberjaya and Setapak.

Abdul Mutalib said he was confident the response towards these projects would be positive as the locations were strategic.

"I would like to encourage qualified house buyers with household incomes between RM2,500 and RM7,500 to register on our website.