Mah Sing lauds body to regulate industry

KUALA LUMPUR: Mah Sing Group Bhd says the government’s move to set up a body to regulate the property industry will address the issue of first-time home buyers.

However, a certain threshold is required in order for banks to ease lending guidelines.

Executive director Datuk Steven Ng Poh Seng said that affordability was not something that one could put a benchmark on.

“It depends on the income level, the location and the cost structure of homes to be built,” he told reporters after a presentation to analysts and investors at Invest Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 2017 yesterday.

On Tuesday, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the government was mulling the setting up of a regulatory body to supervise the housing industry, especially the affordable housing segment.

Apart from addressing a mismatch between the demand and supply of affordable housing in the country, Johari said the regulatory body may be necessary, as there were too many complications in the development of affordable homes and pricing was an issue, among others.

Meanwhile, Ng said the property group plans to increase its landbank in the Klang Valley to make up 75% of its total landbank in the next two to three years from 67% .

“If land acquisition constituted 10% of gross development value (GDV), then we can have projects with a potential GDV of up to RM10bil,” Ng said. Any new land acquisition would depend on location, pricing and the method of payment, he added.