Analysts laud thoughtful approach to affordable housing

KUALA LUMPUR: Following the sustainable infrastructure and housing panel session at the ‘Malaysia: A New Dawn’ conference earlier last week, analysts lauded the thoughtful approach to affordable housing plans via Dasar Perumahan Negara 2.0 or the National Affordable Housing Policy (NAHP) 2.0.

In a recent sector analysis, the research team at Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd (Kenanga Research) noted that the NAHP 2.0 would focus on affordable housing policies and its longterm sustainability, solutions to overcome financing barriers faced by first-time house buyers, and addressing the supply overhang rate, which has been said to be more severe for homes priced below RM500,000 per unit, rather than what has been publicly perceived.

It was also indicated there would be more stringent enforcements on developers’ responsibilities and deliverables, including policies, which address developers holding on to unsold units for extended periods.

“If so, we opine this will improve the quality of houses as developers will have to ensure that these houses are both saleable and liveable, which will essentially weed out the weaker developers,” said the research team said.

“Considering our population size of 32 million, we have always opined that there are just far too many developers in Malaysia, both publicly listed and private, as the barrier of entry to this business is considered low.

“We note that many non-landrelated driven sectors have delved into property development resulting in an overcrowding of developers.”

It added, “While we await for further details on the NAHP 2.0, the Minister did highlight that affordable homes will be classified in three tiers and will be dependent on the median house price transaction as well as the median income of a particular area; this would be those priced below RM150,000 per unit, RM150,000 to RM350,000 per unit and RM350,000 to RM500,000 per unit, depending on areas or state.