Ho said the association is committed to providing affordable housing but it should be targeted to the actual demands.

PETALING JAYA: The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Malaysia said the association is committed to providing affordable housing but it should be targeted to the demands of the locations. Rehda also called for a national affordable housing trust where developers contribute a certain percentage of their gross development value (GDV) to the trust. 

“The committee of the trust – who could be a combination of the Housing and Local Government Ministry(KPKT), the state authorities and even some Rehda representatives – can observe and analyse which part of the city or state has high demand for affordable housing, so that the affordable houses can be built strategically where the demand is, but not a flat quota that is not market-driven and causing some areas to be underprovided and other areas over provided,” said president Datuk Ho Hon Sang. 

REHDA’s statement was in response to the Prime Minister’s call to have Madani housing blocks in every new residential project in the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory.  

Citing findings by the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC), where 28.6% of completed but unsold residential properties in Malaysia for Q1 2024 were priced at below RM300,000, REHDA said this points to a mismatch between the supply of affordable housing and its demand. 

“We are committed to providing affordable housing, but the focus should be on the right location, as some areas require more affordable housing units, while some require less due to the weak demand in those areas. There should be a more targeted solution rather than a one-shoe-fits-all approach to identifying the needs,” he said.

Ho also said that the blanket requirement to provide affordable housing pushes developers to cross-subsidise the cost of building affordable housing with a higher selling price for open market housing, which disadvantages homebuyers who are not eligible for affordable housing. 

“The (Prime Minister’s) suggested requirement, whereby a full block or two need to be made into Madani housing instead of a set percentage, will naturally cause a further increase in the free market prices for those who are not eligible for affordable housing,” Ho said.  

To further assist homebuyers, REHDA called on other industry players, such as banks to offer subsidised loans for all affordable housing. 

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