In-depth study on unsold low-cost homes needed

KUALA LUMPUR (July 14): The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) said an in-depth study on unsold low-cost homes needs to be done, in response to a suggestion that the Johor government should buy up unsold units to help out property developers.

Rehda president Datuk Seri FD Iskandar Mohamed Mansor said the association is in discussion with the urban wellbeing, housing and local government ministry, and is in the midst of collecting data on these unsold low-cost units.

“We are talking to the ministry. We need the facts and figures. Rehda is currently writing to its members to find out how many low-cost units have been built, how many are unsold and where these units are located.

“These are the things that we need to know so we can advise the government on where units should not be built and where low-cost units are needed,” he told the media on the sidelines of Rehda’s Hari Raya open house event yesterday.

Earlier this week, Parti Amanah Negara deputy president Salahuddin Ayub said the Johor state government could purchase low-cost units and resell them to the public, especially to low-income groups through a rent-to-own scheme.

“We can’t just tell the state government to buy all the unsold units. In Selangor alone, there are more than 100,000 unsold units. In Johor, there are about 70,000 to 80,000 units. We must do a proper study on these units,” said FD Iskandar.

Meanwhile, he said, the same challenges remain for the local property market in the second half of 2017 (2H17), especially in terms of providing affordable housing units.

He urged the federal and state governments and local authorities to work together to provide more affordable units, adding that these parties should give more leeway in terms of lower premiums, higher density and lower development charges.

“Developers want to build affordable homes but the government must understand that land prices, labour costs and construction costs have not gone down. Everything has gone up. We were also hit by the levy on steel in February.

“If we are serious in providing these affordable homes, I hope the federal, state and local governments will sit down and look at this issue holistically and in totality so we can help build more affordable homes,” he said.

“Looking at the Greater Kuala Lumpur area, for example, currently we have about seven million to 7.5 million in population. But by 2020, it is predicted to increase to 10 million. There will be another 2.5 million to three million people coming in a few years’ time and we need to provide homes for these people,” he added.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 14, 2017.

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