The 12th Malaysia Plan that was tabled by the Prime Minister Ismail Sabri in the Parliament today.
It should be top priority to ensure affordable housing for all Malaysians as this plays a crucial role in developing our economy in the near future.
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), half of Malaysia’s population are youths however 65% of these youths are unable to purchase houses as reported by HSBC Malaysia.
In the 12MP report that was revealed in the Parliament this morning, it was targeted in the 11MP to build 606,000 houses for low and middle income families between 2016 and 2020, however, only 217,857 houses were developed, this is far behind the targeted amount.
According to the report, these was mainly due to several challenges including rising cost of land, labour-intensive constructions, developers compromising quality in maximising profit, lack of coordination among the stakeholders.
These are the main reasons why we are lacking of affordable homes.
With the COVID-19 outbreak, the low and middle income families’ income has decreased approximately 10.3%.
This translates to more working classes unable to purchase homes due to the rising cost of houses in Malaysia while the pandemic hits hard at our economy.
I also have doubts on the government’s target to build 500,000 affordable houses for low and middle income families by 2025.
Is it practical to set such a target given that the last five years the government has only built 217,857 houses, which is not even half of the target set by the government in the twelfth Malaysia Plan.
The cost of lands, construction materials would increase along time and unless the Federal Government is committed and would introduce a national strategy to tackle this issue, it is unlikely to achieve the target.
The plan tabled in the Parliament today proposed several suggestions including capitalising land owned by governments, encouraging developers to use IBS technology to manage costs, however, in my opinion, political will and stern implementation is the key to all these plannings.
It would be just talk if no execution and will is shown by the government, the process from purchasing land, building homes to selling was also labelled as too tedious and time-consuming.
I have also raised similar questions to the Sabah State Government previously.
According to the written answer by the State Government, the market is flooded by majority housings priced above RM500,000 and affordable homes are rarely introduced now.
If the homes are below RM500,000, it is likely to be located far away from the urban area and not consumer friendly as transportation and infrastructure are lacking.
It has been proven that developers have been building more luxurious housings to maximise profits over the years, only government agencies are solely building affordable homes.
This is clearly insufficient and the government must introduce effective policies to encourage developers to join in efforts to build more affordable homes by leasing land, resources and also to ensure inclusive housing.
I also urge the government to tackle this underlying issue swiftly for our younger generations.
I hope that a home for everyone is not only a slogan but a reality someday soon by setting it.