Malaysian Government moving towards Singapore-style public housing board

[eErotica69]

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/...towards-singapore-style-public-housing-board/

 

[eErotica69]

Malaysia: Removing the stigma of public housing
By SYED UMAR ARIFF , JOHOR BARU, [email protected]


PUBLIC housing is commonly perceived as being cramped, with few
rooms, less-than-average quality building materials and the most Spartan
of architectural designs.
Aesthetically, such homes, although priced at the most affordable rates, might not be appealing to
many. One can't be too picky, but a house should be more than just a zinc-roofed shelter.
Iskandar Malaysia's public housing project removes such a stigma through its Iskandar Malaysia
People's Housing Project.
It was recently launched at Lima Kedai in Gelang Patah here.
The homes are not your typical terraces or flats but four-storey apartments ranging from 83.6 to 111
sq m per unit.
Each unit has two bathrooms and between three and four rooms.
The neighborhood is equipped with broadband, 24-hour close circuit television surveillance, and two
community police centres.
The RM200 million project consists of 1,500 apartment units built according to the "industrial building
concept", which ensures optimal manpower and construction completion for the project.
Other facilities include a recreational park, a surau, a kindergarten, two football fields, six badminton
courts, a community centre and 16 playgrounds.
The units are leased for a two-year rental of between RM360 and RM560. Families earning less than
RM3,000 a month are eligible to apply.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who launched the handing over of the keys ceremony, said he
was pleased with the development. He hoped similar housing projects would be carried out in other
states as well as to provide better homes for the rakyat.
"This is about putting people's interest first. Everyone from all walks of life should be living
comfortably. This is social justice through inclusive development," said Najib in his speech.
The apartments were also tailored according to the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
Standards concept, which focuses on security and green technology.
This is also said to promote interaction among community members.
"This is the kind of sustainable development we want for the people. We are serious about providing
quality homes to the middle- and lower-income group," said Najib.
He added that quality homes and housing areas could serve as a barometer of quality family life,
which he said was critical in creating harmonious living.
Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, who accompanied the prime minister, said the
development of Iskandar Malaysia is to create a better quality of life for the people.
"Iskandar Malaysia will benefit Johoreans

http://www.iut.nu/Facts and figures/Asia/2011/MalaysiaDec20_2011.pdf

 

[eErotica69]

‘We can’t afford to build affordable housing’

Developers turn to higher end developments not only for better profits, but because they cannot survive in the affordable housing segment, say several property developers.

Real Estate Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) national treasurer NK Tong said yesterday that developers cannot afford to go into the affordable housing segment unless, for example, they are given land for development as a way to reduce the costs.

Tong points out that during a dialogue session on urban development held by the Ministry of Finance several weeks ago, even a representative from the Urban Development Authority (UDA) noted that it costs UDA RM150,000 to RM180,000 per house in construction costs alone for affordable houses — before the land costs are factored in.

“Even for them, a government agency, it already costs so much — the representative was pointing out that costs are high, you cannot sell cheap anymore,” stressed Tong. “You have to find ways to bring costs down.”

“One of (the ways) is land costs, and the other is to have the government build it,” suggested Tong. “Because the government doesn’t have to do it for profit, it does it for social reasons.”

Earlier, Tong presented the findings of its Property Industry Survey 1H 2013 in the media briefing, which found that Kuala Lumpur and Selangor is set to see the price range of between RM1 million and RM1.5 million as the most common range for properties launched in 2H13 based on the feedback of respondents.


Rehda president Michael Yam
Michael Yam


Also speaking after the session yesterday, Rehda president Michael Yam echoed the housing minister’s remarks last week that there is a supply–demand mismatch in the affordable housing segment.

"As an emerging country with a young population and urban migration, there is a lot of demand but not enough supply," said Yam, adding that this is the main reason for the issue of rising house prices seen today.

‘Tackling affordable housing issue takes time’

Speaking to KiniBiz after a Rehda media briefing yesterday, Tong was clarifying his earlier remark that developers can only produce as much as the market demands and depending on what developers can afford to build.

Acknowledging the affordability issues plaguing housebuyers today, Tong said the time to tackle affordable housing was 10 to 20 years ago and the problem would not be solved overnight.

“Or maybe the other way to look at it: it will take us another ten years or more of concerted effort to really tackle the root of the issue,” said Tong.

"In the 1960s when there was a housing crisis in Singapore, at that time only 9% live in public housing,” said Tong, adding that after the launch of the Housing Development Board (HDB) program, 82% of Singaporeans today live in public housing.


Rehda national treasurer NK Tong
NK Tong


“Now I’m not saying that we need 82% of Malaysians staying in public housing but I’m saying we need the percentage that needs affordable housing to stay in public housing,” explained Tong. “Hopefully this time with PR1MA (1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme) the government will get it right, because there's been many other agencies that has promised but did not deliver.”

If Malaysia aspires towards below three persons per household as seen in developed countries with ample land similar to Malaysia, Tong says the nation would need eight million houses or more.

“If you look at the statistics, in the last five years we have produced 100,000 homes. So for us to get to, say, 8.3 million houses it would take us 35 years at the current rate,” said Tong, continuing that this is “provided two things does not happen — we do not have any further urbanisation and we stop growing (in terms of population).”

‘Incentives? Just improve delivery system’

In the housing ministry’s Workshop on Initiatives to Reduce House Prices held last month, more than two thirds of industry stakeholders participating agreed that developers should be given initiatives so as to encourage them to build affordable houses.

When KiniBiz posed the question, Tong opines that “we just need to make housing delivery system more effective”.

“It’s (about) getting faster approvals, removing all these extra utilities costs, all the extra requirements,” said Tong.


Ricque Liew of Rehda
Ricque Liew


According to Ricque Liew of Rehda, a 1Q13 survey by Rehda found that compliance costs ranged between 15% and 25% across a wide spectrum of property developments. These costs include contributions as well as building mid-construction and handover infrastructure for utilities companies.

“For example we have to build sub-stations for Tenaga Nasional (TNB),” said Liew, who is also managing director of Paramount Property Development.

Earlier during the media briefing, Rehda Malacca branch chairman Anthony Cho said that while some market-driven costs like land and supply cannot be changed, there are certain things that can be made more effective to enable lower house prices.

“For example, the mechanism of contributions — some of the contributions are just ridiculous,” said Cho.

Cho points out that in Malacca, developers pay flood contribution fees in addition to existing drainage contribution due to flooding in 2006, but there has been no more flooding since then yet developers continue paying.

“It can go up to RM5,000 per unit,” said Cho. “For affordable houses priced at RM200,000 for example, if the contributions amounts to 20% to 30%, then you can bring the cost down by as much as RM50,000.”


PKNS general manager Othman Omar
Othman Omar


In the 16th National Housing and Property Summit last month, Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) general manager Othman Omar said that outdated and inconsistent requirements imposed by local councils as well as approval delays can increase development costs by up to 30%.

“Late approvals can increase the development cost from RM5 per square foot to RM30 per square foot,” said Othman. “Our production cost increases. So who pays at the end? The cost will be passed down to the housebuyer.”

“In Shah Alam, we were told to build a pump house for one of our projects, (but) after we spent money to build it, they told us it was not necessary. By then it was too late as we had to pass the cost to the final price of the house,” said Othman, adding that compliance cost such as providing utilities will push the gross development value up by 30%.

In the Rehda Property Industry Survey 1H 2013 some 58% of the 150 respondents believe that capital contributions required from developers towards utilities have a negative impact on the housing industry.

“Quite a few of these utilities companies are now privatised and they have continued to pass on the costs to the developers,” said Rehda national treasurer Tong. “Ultimately what the utilities companies are doing are passing


http://www.kinibiz.com/print/47466

 

[Capano2121]

As long as there are people moving out of kampung & new village, all these public housing will remain slum filled with trash & dirt & garbage & Malaysian! Now they are so proud of their fuckups that they have a slogan "Excuse Me, Your Malaysian is showing"!

 

[The_Hypocrite]

There has been public housing in matland for yonks. However was told tat they dont have maintainance plan. N the housing just degrades n end up as slums. N its for bumiputra only. Cinas dont get it.

With landlords n developers controlling the market n gahmen revenue at stake. Its in their interest not to have prices dropped.

 

[po2wq]

tok about big plans, evrybody oso can la ... wait until u can complete ze project den oni tok la ...

 

[tonychat]

Public housing which is cheap and for low income families is very welcome..unlike fucktard PAP low life who come up with $1 million public housing..

 

[Devil Within]

More corruption in Malaysian gov. with this "public housing" thing.

 

[CheeByeKiaTonyChat]

Cheebyekiatonychat so happy that his government is finally building a house that he can afford.

 

[eErotica69]

Cheebyekiatonychat so happy that his government is finally building a house that he can afford.

His parents need not live on trees anymore!

 

[eErotica69]

Public housing which is cheap and for low income families is very welcome..unlike fucktard PAP low life who come up with $1 million public housing..

All public housing $1mil? Chump.

You read it from Utusan Malaysia or Seah Ching Nee?

 

[sleaguepunter]

There has been public housing in matland for yonks. However was told tat they dont have maintainance plan. N the housing just degrades n end up as slums. N its for bumiputra only. Cinas dont get it.

With landlords n developers controlling the market n gahmen revenue at stake. Its in their interest not to have prices dropped.

cinas can get lah, only if very lucky. a matland chinese friend brought an unit for MYR 30k after he got married. he was throw out by his own parents and was staying with wife's parent when he and wife applied for a low cost housing. because the place very far from JB town, i didnt visit him while he stay over there. now he more affluent and own an terrace house in a walled community at Iskandar and rent out his low cost flat for some passive income.

btw, before u start bashing him, he work in matland all his life. but i think his wife work as operator at semi con in spore.