The current issue of Malaysians needing a home but could not afford to buy one, is it an issue of demand or is it supply? Demand may be because the salary is just not high enough, currently. Another reason may be the lack of demand even if salary is enough to buy one; negative sentiment. If this is because of supply, perhaps it is because the developers are building but they were not building the right ones? We do not need to talk about developers not building because the of the huge unsold units in the market. I think majority are still waiting for a concrete solution from our NATIONAL HOUSING POLICY by the Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin
Reported in an article in The Star. Zuraida said that the government will now be looking at affordable housing through three categories. The categories are as follows: Houses fetching RM150,000 and below, RM150,000-RM300,000 and RM300,000-RM500,000 homes. There will be a streamlining of all housing projects under the five housing entities comprising Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia (PR1MA), 1Malaysia Civil Servants Housing Programme (PPA1M), UDA Holdings Bhd, Syarikat Perumahan Negara (SPNB) and the Hardcore Poor Housing Programme (PPRT). In other words, she said, “This means that the housing entities will use the same design, same pricing and the same management.” She added, “We are also looking at various options for social housing requirements in town areas, particularly the rent-to-own (RTO) scheme where those renting will be given time to plan and buy their house after five years (of renting).” Article in TheStar here.
SAME DESIGN, SAME PRICING and SAME MANAGEMENT is still unclear to me. Does this mean the designs are exactly the same? The tiles to be used are the same? The pricing of homes in all areas are the same? In this case, I think many people would prefer to buy nearer to the KL city centre versus further away from the city centre. The only reason why developments continue to stretch further away is due to affordability and connectivity. Anyway, I think any press conference where she could only share a little is unfair to the KPKT. Let’s wait for the full National Housing Policy. I hope it has gone through full consultation, brainstorming and even discussion sessions with all concerned stakeholders. (Hopefully they invite kopiandproperty.com founder along as well) Happy waiting.
written on 13th Oct 2018
Next suggested article: 10 reasons why we should buy a property (Part 1)
