1. According to the National Housing Policy 2018-2025, the government is targeting the construction of affordable housing by emphasizing systematic, high quality, inclusive, efficient and affordable for citizens planning, development and residential management, to generate sustainable and resilient habitat.
2. The Government through the Ministry of Housing and Local Government has set the affordable house prices around RM160,000.00 to RM180,000.00 according to urban and rural areas.
3. Looking at the situation of developers in Sarawak house building projects, especially in major cities such as Kuching, Sibu and Miri, the housing market offers far above the affordable rates but is only available to see for the younger generation as well as the B40 group.
4. Sarawak PAS Youth through searches and findings on the issue of affordable houses for young people find that the price of houses offered by developers is as low as RM250,000.00 and above. What frustrates us is that there is no assertive initiative or effort by the government or developers to guarantee the ability of Sarawakians to own their own homes.
5. For example, based on search in www.sarawak.com and several other searches found the lowest house rates in Bintulu are around RM300,000.00 as well as RM270,000.00 in Samarahan, while in Sibu around RM268,00.00 and the suburb are of Kuching which is in MJC is around RM295,000.00. This clearly shows that the National Housing Policy is far from its goal especially for young people in Sarawak.
6. The DPPNS, according to the Minister’s report, is responsible for stating that the value of unsold houses now stands at RM22.5 billion. Although 73% are affordable homes worth RM250,000 and below, many still do not qualify for a home loan to buy the house.
7. This is because the employment sector offered to young people and the income levels are so unreasonable, it is even more difficult for young people to obtain financing from banks because financial institutions have established strict requirements for obtaining housing loan financing. It seems to have “it never rains but it pours” to the young.
8. What makes us more worried is that an international report and standard categorizes Malaysian homes as very expensive, according to a study developed by Demographia International and suggested by the World Bank, the United Nations and Harvard University. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) director of the Bank’s Monetary and Monitoring Department (BNM), Qaiser Iskandar Anwarudin, said most Malaysians could not afford to buy a newly built house at a cost beyond their financial means, including young people in Sarawak.
9. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, National Property Information Center (NAPIC) and BNM, the price for affordable homes across Malaysia should be offered at a maximum price of RM282,000 for median or intermediate-income households instead of affordable homes currently on the market is RM298,000.00. The question is, do these two rates allow young people earning less than RM3000.00 to own a home at that price?
10. Seeing the importance and survival of young people, Sarawak PAS Youth has urged federal and state governments and housing developers to seriously address the issue of young Sarawakians in getting home ownership. To address the issue of the inability to buy a home at the rate of affordability and to expect the authorities to examine the issue of supply incompatibility with the demand for home prices by location. Lastly, relevant authorities and agencies should be involved in monitoring the housing industry in the bidding and construction of homes so that they are in line with the desire and inspiration of young people to own a home.
MOHD. KAZMAN NOORDIN
CHIEF OF INFORMATION
SARAWAK PAS YOUTH
