Budget 2024: Rehda's Expectations for Addressing Housing Affordability

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 1): The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) looks forward to the government's action on housing affordability issues and hopes for measures to ease challenges faced by developers in Budget 2024.

Achieve homeownership for Malaysians

In their budget wishlist, Datuk NK Tong, the Rehda's association's president, emphasized the ongoing concern of housing affordability for both the public and the industry. The hope is for the reintroduction or introduction of incentives that enable a larger number of Malaysians to achieve homeownership. These incentives encompass tax deductions, grants, and reduced interest rates, all of which are designed to alleviate the financial strain on prospective homeowners, especially for those first-time buyers.

He said in a statement. “We also request for the Home Ownership Campaign (which ended December 2021) on  to be continued, as its two iterations in 2019 and 2020-2021 have not only helped thousands of Malaysians own their dream home but also contributed significantly to the country’s gross domestic product. As developers, we concur that should charges imposed by state governments and local authorities be reduced, house prices will most likely be reduced to levels that make homeownership attainable for more people,” said Tong. 

According to Rehda's statement, besides the cross-subsidy approach developers must adopt to construct affordable housing, another significant factor contributing to the problem is the increasing cost of building materials. This cost escalation is directly linked to the upward trajectory of housing prices.

It said the government’s intervention, such as temporary reduction or removal of import levy, would go a long way in mitigating the problem.

Interview with Nurhisham Hussein, Chief Stratergy Officer of Employees Provident Fund (EPF)

Rehda highlighted a recent interview with Nurhisham Hussein, the Chief Strategy Officer of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), who emphasized the need for a fundamental overhaul of state finances to achieve genuine housing affordability. Nurhisham has said that 95% of state income was derived from some form of property tax, such as land conversion premiums, and therefore, reforming state finance is essential when discussing affordable housing.

In addition to this, Rehda finds motivation in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's repeated appeals for a just and open administration across various tiers, encompassing state governance and privatized utility firms, which aligns well with our goals.

 

References:
The Edge Malaysia
Sinar Daily