Malaysian Government moving towards Singapore-style public housing board

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Malaysian Government moving towards Singapore-style public housing board


KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — The government is in the initial stages of establishing a national public housing authority similar to the one in Singapore, that will build affordable quality homes, said Datuk Chor Chee Heung.

The housing and local government minister told The Malaysian Insider that a national housing board was one of the initiatives the government was working on to address increasing concerns over the affordability of residential property.

“In the long term, we are moving towards a national housing board whereby building of houses by the government will be more structured,” he said in a telephone interview. “It is in the early stages.”




Chor said his ministry was currently building low-cost housing for those earning less than RM2,500 while Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance Inc, also builds low-cost houses, but under a new national housing board affordable housing construction by the government will be more streamlined.

He added that the Najib administration was also considering releasing federal-owned land to private developers to build affordable housing.

The National House Buyers Association (HBA) recently warned that an entire generation of young adults risk being locked out of the property market due to runaway house prices.

HBA secretary-general Chang Kim Loong said the rapid inflation of assets has put house ownership beyond the reach of young adults.

“The prices are exorbitant and beyond the reach of young adults,” Chang told The Malaysian Insider. “The price increases are not commensurate with salary increases. How are young adults going to catch up (with house prices)?”

As a result of property prices outpacing salary increments, many young adults feel pressured to buy a home before they are ready out of fear of being priced out of the market.

Chor said however that the “fear that you must buy now” is unfounded.

He also said that a number of developers are now realising the demand for affordable housing and happy to build property costing RM150,000 to RM200,000 “a little bit outside of KL”.

The minister said that once the KL MRT is completed — the first line stretching from Sungei Buloh to Kajang is slated to start operations in 2017 — it will make it easier for young adults to commute to the city.

“Don’t rush to buy a house now,” he said. “Once the MRT is there, there will come a time when it will be affordable for someone with five years’ working experience to buy a property.”

Singapore’s Housing & Development Board (HDB) is a public housing authority tasked with building public housing towns featuring quality homes and living environments.

Over 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in HDB flats and 95 per cent of them own their units.

Nevertheless, the influx of foreigners who are given residential status in Singapore in recent years has pushed up the prices of even HDB flats to the point where it has become an issue in the Singapore general election, where polling day is tomorrow.

High property prices in urban areas have prompted the Najib administration to introduce a first-home ownership scheme in March in addition to the loan-to-value ratio cap in a bid to stave off discontent.

The government’s My First Home Scheme will enable young adults aged up to 35 and earning less than RM3,000 to obtain 100 per cent financing to buy houses worth between RM100,000 and RM220,000 with a repayment period of up to 30 years.

Selangor announced on May 4 that it will launch an affordable housing scheme and offer houses “more comfortable” than low-cost units, similar to the My First Home Scheme mooted by the federal government.

The Selangor-backed scheme is expected to offer 750- to 850-sq ft units with the maximum cost for each house at RM100,000 and reserved for those earning between RM2,500 and RM5,000 a month.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/m...housing-board/


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