KUALA LUMPUR: Low and middle-income civil servants will get more affordable housing once the Cabinet passes a proposal to review the National Housing Policy.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this move was to ensure that house prices would not be based solely on supply and demand.
“I agree (with Cuepacs) that the National Housing Policy must be reviewed. I will bring this matter up with the Cabinet next week.
“The manner in which houses are constructed and priced must not be solely based on demand and supply.
“There are instances where government intervention may be necessary,” he told reporters after launching the Civil Servants Housing Convention here yesterday.
A review was needed, he said, to ensure that government workers in the lower and middle income groups had access to affordable housing.
“The step is part of the Government’s aim to see that all civil servants are able to own houses before they retire,” he added.
He lamented that there were cases of housing developers abandoning their projects and civil servants who bought the houses ending up being burdened with having to pay off their housing loans.
“I am warning the housing developers not to cheat civil servants whereby their projects end up abandoned. They will be blacklisted,” he added.
Dr Ahmad Zahid said the proposal, if passed, would also abolish stamp duties for civil servants purchasing affordable homes.
Earlier in his speech, he urged the National Housing Department to look into 18 housing projects for civil servants that were left abandoned. Twelve of these projects are located in Kelantan.
Steps were being taken to revive the projects which had affected 500 families, many from the armed forces and police, he added.
He also urged the affected house buyers to file class action suits against the developers who had left their projects abandoned.
Cuepacs president Datuk Azih Muda, who also attended the function, had asked for a review of the housing policy, which was formulated in 2011, to allow civil servants in the M40 and B40 grades to buy more affordable houses.
Cuepacs represents about 1.6 million civil servants.
He also suggested that the Government buy parcels of land in strategic locations for the benefit of civil servants buying houses in the future.
