KUALA LUMPUR: Immediate measures have been taken to prevent a rise in delayed and abandoned housing projects, following an average 30% rise in construction costs, says the Housing and Local Government Ministry.
Its secretary-general Datuk Dr M. Noor Azman Taib said the unexpected global supply chain crisis has directly affected the country’s housing industry, which involves more than 200 construction supply chains worth billions of ringgit.
“In terms of cost increases, during our engagement sessions with stakeholders, we found that costs have risen by 20% to 40%, with an average increase of about 30%,” he said after appearing on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme at Wisma Bernama here on Thursday night.
He said to address the issue, the ministry’s Task Force on Sick and Abandoned Private Housing Projects, established in 2023, is actively working on solutions, with 99 large-scale abandoned housing projects recorded so far.
“We have identified these sick and abandoned projects so that we can put in mitigation measures. We are working to find solutions, including finding ‘white knights’ to take over and rescue the projects, and easing the process until the Certificate of Completion and Compliance is issued,” he said, Bernama reported.
Noor Azman said the ministry, through the National Housing Department, is also reviewing applications from severely affected developers for extensions to project timelines.
