Malaysian Govt Urged To Revise Buying Eligibility For Affordable Homes

The government has been urged to revise the eligibility criteria for buying affordable homes under the PR1MA project, lowering minimum household income from RM2,500 to RM2,000. Meanwhile, Khazanah Research Institute’s Theebalakshmi Kunasekaran believes vacancy tax will help address the issue of property overhang in Malaysia.

The government has been urged to revise the eligibility criteria for buying affordable homes under the PR1MA project, lowering minimum household income from RM2,500 to RM2,000.

Khazanah Research Institute’s Theebalakshmi Kunasekaran believes vacancy tax will help address the issue of property overhang in Malaysia.This comes as an implementation of the tax will force developers to exercise caution when planning residential projects, preventing an oversupply of products which can contribute to the property glut, reported The Star.

The tax will also curb speculative activities by people who buy units to make quick profits, said Theebalakhsmi. She pointed that the presence of vacant units will lead to disinvestment in townships as developers and businesses no longer want to invest in the neighbourhoods.

As such, vacancy tax will force developers and homeowners to sell or rent out their empty units to avoid the tax. “Consequently, this will provide home buyers with access to affordable housing options as developers lower their price through ‘fire sales’ to clear the glut,” she said.

The government eyes to enforce a new regulation which will limit the purchase of eligible citizens to just one affordable home. This is to ensure there is adequate affordable housing supply for those who need it most.

With this, a housing database will be established to enable a more accurate cross-qualification screening of ownership information, said the Ministry of Economy in its 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) Mid-Term Review (MTR).The government also plans to establish a land inventory information which integrates all data on waqf land to identify suitable land for affordable housing, reported Bernama.

The “exit policy” regulation for public housing will also be enforced on overqualified tenants, said the ministry. The 10-year-old moratorium period on the resale of homes will also be expanded to include public housing.

As such, a comprehensive study will be carried out to explore strategies as well as initiatives in managing affordable home supply via the secondary market. The state government of Johor has amended the State Housing Development Corporation (PKPJ) Enactment 1976 to enhance the agency’s role in managing affordable housing, public housing and Bumiputera real estate matters.

According to Jafni Shukor, Chairman of the State Housing and Local Government Committee, the amendment aims to facilitate the processes relating to real estate and housing within the state, benefitting the public and stakeholders, like developers and consultants.

The amendment will see PKPJ provide consultation service to industry players as well as connect with related agencies through the planning, development and review committee (PDRC) platform, reported Bernama.