PETALING JAYA: Property developers are always willing to talk to the government and other stakeholders on sustainable ways to make houses more accessible for all Malaysians, especially low-income earners.
Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Malaysia president Datuk NK Tong said the association continued to encourage its members to uphold their nation-building duty of providing quality, affordable homes for the rakyat.
“Rehda is committed to assist the government ensure sufficient affordable housing for all rakyat,” Tong said in a statement yesterday.
“On that note, Rehda supports the Prime Minister’s statement that the current policy on affordable housing be reviewed.”
On Thursday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said his administration was reviewing the policy mandating developers to devote 30% of their projects to affordable housing as “it is not working according to the speed and scale that is required”.
The Local Government Development Ministry has been tasked with imposing new conditions on developers as the task of building affordable homes is “partly their responsibility”, Anwar had said.
In response, Tong said: “To make housing more affordable for all rakyat, the government should be fully responsible for the delivery of affordable housing as it was over 50 years ago, and as it is in many countries worldwide.”
Tong said the current policy had resulted in developers having to “cross-subsidise” their projects.
This is where the prices of homes meant for the open market have to be increased to cover the cost of affordable houses, which they are mandated to build, but which are often sold below the construction cost.
“In turn, the price increase has caused houses on the open market aimed at the M40 to become unaffordable.
“As a result, projects that do not attract buyers are more likely to be late, sick or abandoned.
“This is especially true for projects produced by SME (small and medium) developers that lack the financial resources to cushion themselves against economic issues, which is one of the reasons Rehda has asked the government to relinquish the responsibility for building affordable housing,” he said.
Another unintended consequence of pricing regular houses higher was the increase in completed but unsold properties, that were often incorrectly referred to as an “overhang”, Tong said.
“We are aware of and grateful for the steps taken by the government thus far to address pressing concerns in the housing and property business, such as the recent introduction of Skim Simen Rahmah to address the price increase in construction materials,” he said.
However, he said much more must be done to revive the industry and make it sustainable for the benefit of aspiring home owners.
