Ministry sets up war room to monitor sick housing projects, Slight hike in affordable home prices and more
26th January – 30th January
The Ministry of Local Government Development (KPKT) has created a “war room” to monitor sick housing projects in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, buyers of certain Johor Affordable Housing (RMMJ) units will have to face a slight increase in prices due to the rising cost of building materials.
1) Ministry sets up war room to monitor sick housing projects
The Ministry of Local Government Development (KPKT) has created a “war room” to monitor sick housing projects in Malaysia.
“The ministry has detected as many as 550 sick and abandoned projects across the country thus far, and we are in the process of identifying problems with developers and contractors,” said KPKT Minister Nga Kor Ming.
He shared that KPKT will scrutinise every sick and abandoned housing project in the country to ensure that buyers’ right and welfare are protected, reported Bernama.
In fact, a special team – to be led by his deputy, Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir – had been established for this purpose.
Nga made the statement after handing over the keys to the Kepayang Ipoh Residency unit owners.
The minister revealed that the 252-unit housing scheme was among the sick projects that had been successfully revived and completed.
“In the first 100 days, KPKT aims to complete nearly 5,000 units of affordable housing, including this residency, and several in other states. We are confident that we can complete these yet-to-be-completed projects in this period,” said Nga.
2) Slight hike in affordable home prices
Buyers of certain Johor Affordable Housing (RMMJ) units will have to face a slight increase in prices due to the rising cost of building materials.
Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor, Chairman of the State Housing and Local Government Committee revealed that the prices of Type A RMMJ homes will be increased to RM50,000 from RM42,000 currently, while Type B home prices will be raised to RM100,000 from RM80,000 currently.
“The chorus of developers urging us to increase the prices of affordable houses has gotten louder since last year, especially members of the Johor Real Estate Housing Developer Association (REHDA),” said Mohd Jafni as quoted by The Star.
“They have expressed the challenges in constructing the houses at such a low price when the cost of building them has increased by between 30% and 40%…As such, we have agreed to increase the prices for Types A and B RMMJ houses.”
He shared that Johor REHDA had requested for a 100% hike in prices, which they rejected since it would be too high for the public, especially those from the lower-income group.
3) Housing for armed forces 22% complete, to be ready by end-2024
Members of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) can look forward to a new home as the “One Member One House” (SASaR) programme is well underway, with 22% of the project completed.
In fact, the keys for the housing units are set to be handed out to buyers by end-2024, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan.
“The project will stay on track and the houses will be available to buyers as long as there are no labour and supply issues,” he said as quoted by The Malaysian Reserve.
The project, launched in 2018 under the Defence White Paper, will feature 3,500 units – ensuring adequate housing and welfare for the country’s military personnel.
Mohamad also revealed that construction works for the second SASaR housing targeted for Wardieburn military camp personnel will commence soon.
In an earlier statement, he explained that the main objective of the project is to provide “all MAF personnel and veterans the opportunity to have comfortable and affordable homes in Kuala Lumpur”.
4) Selangor to review regulations on construction of resorts on agricultural land
The Selangor government, via the Selangor Land and Mines Office, will review regulations relating to the construction of resorts on agricultural land within the state.
According to its director Yusri Zakariah, a committee comprising several related agencies under the Selangor economic planning unit will be created to assess the situation and release a new policy relating to such developments.
“Apart from Batang Kali, several areas in Kalumpang, Hulu Selangor and around Hulu Langat have a lot of agricultural lands used to run homestays while selling cultivated agricultural produce,” he said as quoted by Bernama.
The review of regulations comes after a landslide at Father’s Organic Farm in Batang Kali saw 31 people dead, including 12 children and a one-year-old baby.
5) Optimistic outlook for property market in 2023
A new survey showed that real estate practitioners remain optimistic of the property market’s outlook for 2023, with 58.3% of the respondents expecting the property market to improve, 18.3% believe it will hold firm while 23.5% expects it to fall.
The Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents’ (MIEA) annual Real Estate Market Sentiment Survey 2022/2023 showed that 40.9% of respondents sees project sales increasing this year, 30.4% said it will remain flat and 28.7% anticipates a decline, reported New Straits Times.
For the secondary market, the survey revealed that 52.2% of the respondents believe it will improve this year, 31.9% felt it will remain the same, while 15.9% sees a decline.
Meanwhile, 35.7% expects prices to grow between 10% and 20% this year, 31.3% forecasted that it will hold flat, while 34% felt it would drop by 10%.
MIEA President Chan Ai Cheng noted that there is a common sentiment among respondents that price adjustment would be minimal since the market is still on its recovery phase.
“However, we anticipate that there will be some adjustments in some pocket locations by owners who feel that their properties can demand higher prices,” she said.
