Affordability drives Lagenda’s strategy

LAGENDA Properties Bhd, a well-known name in property development, particularly for its niche in affordable landed properties, appears poised to maintain its strong reputation.

The company is now targeting to double its 2025 launches from the 4,000 units last year, alongside strategic land acquisitions and an eye on markets beyond the West Coast.

In a time when Malaysians are struggling to afford housing, Lagenda is proving that scale and smart land choices can make landed homes affordable – from as low as RM200,000 – while also being profitable.

Affordability isn’t a marketing strategy – it’s the core of the company’s business model.

“Coming from a small town, we realised that affordability is major concern,” group managing director Datuk Jimmy Doh Jee Ming tells StarBiz 7.

Since launching its maiden township in Sitiawan, Perak in 2017, Lagenda has expanded to Selangor, Johor, Kedah, Pahang and Negri Sembilan. It has sold over 10,000 homes in Sitiawan alone.

The property developer sold 4,490 units in 2024, with launches totalling just over RM1bil in gross development value.

The group has a land bank of 5,201 acres as at end-June, with the potential to build more than 50,000 homes.

“We prioritise acquiring larger land parcels, not just for space, but for lower costs, greater flexibility in planning, stronger negotiating power and most importantly, the ability to design comprehensive, self-sustaining townships,” says Doh.

“It’s usually estate land for which demand is not high. Not many developers want to buy larger outskirts land. They prefer to be nearer to the city.”

Doh says the Lagenda-targeted areas are close enough to key infrastructure, such as hospitals and highways, but far enough so land can be bought at a competitive price.

Its latest township in Kulai, Johor, follows earlier developments in Kota Tinggi and Mersing.

The 1,000-acre project, which will be rolled out in nine phases, is expected to offer around 15,000 units, including single-storey homes, townhouses, Rumah Mampu Milik Johor and commercial lots.

In the first phase, 893 units were planned, of which 643 were released – and sold out within hours.

“The decision to double our development units is the result of a carefully planned, long-term strategy,” says Doh.

Having consistently delivered around 4,000 homes annually in recent years, the group is targeting 8,000 launches in 2025 and projects at least 30% sales growth this year.

It is aiming for RM2bil in annual sales, supported by a short turnaround development model.

“We don’t sit on land long-term,” says Doh.

“Our model is built on fast, efficient development cycles to ensure homes reach the people who need them.”

To support its pipeline, the group has made two major land acquisitions – in Kulai and Sungai Petani – for a combined price of almost half a billion ringgit.

With its strategy maturing, Lagenda is setting its sights on the East Coast and East Malaysia, particularly Sarawak.

Doh says that “though the affordability is lower, the demand is there”.

“Wherever a state develops well, affordability becomes an issue,” he adds.

“We’re already looking at land deals and hope to close one or two in Sarawak by next year. But scale, price and partnerships are key.”

Joint ventures will be central to supporting expansion while maintaining financial discipline.

As of March 31, Lagenda’s net gearing ratio stood at 0.42 times.

It had RM173.64mil in cash.

“We can’t stop land banking, but we’ll need the right partners – state governments, landowners – who share our passion for making home ownership possible,” says Doh.

“We see 3% to 5% cost inflation each year,” says Doh. “But thanks to scale, we keep margins thin and homes accessible.”

The group’s construction model incorporates the Industrialised Building System, used in about 30% of its projects.

Doh says high upfront costs and reliance on foreign labour still make conventional methods more practical.

“Covid-19 was a wake-up call,” he adds. “We’re exploring materials and methods that reduce labour dependency and improve resilience.

“From the very beginning, we asked ourselves a simple but important question: What do people truly need for a place to feel like home? It’s not about luxury features or aspirational marketing, it’s about meeting real, fundamental needs. In other words, we want to focus on what truly matters to everyday Malaysians,” says Doh.

He says the target market is primarily the B40 and lower M40 groups – civil servants, working-class families – and others who are priced out of most urban developments.

Despite the group’s momentum, it has not been without setbacks.

In March 2024, its shares fell sharply after a senior staff member was remanded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission over land dealings in Perak.

The company has since clarified on its website that the individual was assisting with investigations and had been “cleared of any involvement”, though investor sentiment has yet to fully recover.

Still, analysts remain bullish.

All four research houses covering Lagenda maintain “buy” calls, with a consensus target price of RM1.63 – a 37% upside from current levels.

Though the domestic pipeline remains robust, the developer has also tested the waters abroad, starting a small 20-unit project in Perth, Australia.

“It’s a start,” said Doh. “Affordability is a global issue. If our model works here, there’s potential elsewhere too.”

While foreign ventures are not the main focus for now, Lagenda sees long-term potential in exporting its affordability-driven model to other countries facing similar challenges.

As of March 2025, unbilled sales totalled RM898.9mil, complemented by outstanding bookings of RM268.8mil.