House prices in prime locations in Sarawak are above RM500,000 for terraced units, while semi-detached houses have breached RM1mil.
KUCHING: The Sarawak government has announced it will “strongly urge” the Federal Government to hand over all public housing duties to the state.
The Sarawak government, said its Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, would be more “prudent” and “practical” when carrying out projects.
Federal funds should be channeled directly to Sarawak’s Housing Development Corporation (HDC), Johari said at the State Legislative Assembly here on Tuesday.
“This arrangement will invariably help expedite project implementation, reduce red tape and enhance delivery to the rakyat. We strongly urge the Federal Government to concur to this new arrangement,” Johari said.
Housing is on the concurrent list under the Federal Constitution.
Johari said HDC already had its own full-fledge technical team, suggesting that federal Housing Ministry offices and branches in the state could done away with to reduce operational costs.
The shortage of public housing in Sarawak is a long-standing matter. The low number of projects in almost a decade has prompted the Sarawak government to try to shift some of the burden for affordable housing to the private sector.
Under state rules, estates larger than 10 acres were required to have 30% of units under RM100,000. But after years of strong objection from private sector lobbies, that policy is being amended.
In Johari’s ministerial winding speech, he conceded “the affordable housing challenge has become severe”. The minister said “affordable houses in prime areas were below RM400,000”, and not much less even when they were “located in secondary areas”.
“House prices continue to rise ... this is worrisome for Sarawak,” he said.
The residential sector since 2014 had also become more “subdued” with “significantly less launches and completions”.
Prices in prime locations are high, above RM500,000 for terraced units, while semi-detached houses had breached RM1mil.
“According to the Statistics Department, in 2013, households with monthly incomes under RM3,000, categorised as low income, accounted for 31.6% in urban areas,” Johari said.
