MARCH 10 — To make affordable housing a reality, an inter-locking trio of fiscal, administrative and housing industry reforms should be set in motion.

The previous Pakatan Harapan government had aspired to build "one million” affordable homes within 10 years. Presumably, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin intends to carry on with the same — as part of the national agenda to mitigate the cost of living for the rakyat.

Although not currently the case, ideally, affordable housing (both single-storey and multi-storey) should be predominantly driven by the federal government while state governments focus on low-cost flats.

Decentralisation of fiscal powers will enhance the financial capacity of state governments to engage in building more quality low-cost flats and reduce waiting times.

One of the ways fiscal decentralisation can take place sustainably is via amendments to the Constitution (Article 111) and legislation (for example, sections 41 & 42 of the Local Government Act, 1976).

This is to allow state governments and local governments to raise funding via bond issuance (and other financial notes/ instruments).

Accessing and tapping the international markets should be considered.

The role of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT), then, should be focussed towards providing the backup support and coordination alongside the broader institutional and regulatory framework for the state governments.

At the same time, there should be a dedicated role for federal government-linked companies (GLCs) in partnership with state governments, where necessary and relevant, to focus on smart cities and self-sustaining/self-containing townships (mixed development).

Federal-state synergy could also be forged and fostered in urban redevelopment to unlock land value of, for instance, the Malay reserve and waqf lands and improve public transportation ridership.

Not least, in also providing the pre-conditions and spatial framework for affordable housing.

This proposed arrangement would also have the advantage of overcoming the lack of holistic and effective coordination between the federal and state government in affordable house-building.

And thereby also ensuring a more optimal use of resources that avoids or minimises the duplication of efforts by federal and state agencies.

It would also enable more targeted and focussed efforts based on local market needs and demand rather than to meet certain quotas.

Now, there are essentially two administrative conditions by which the federal government could step in to support the state governments — without usurping the role of the latter.

Both of these administrative conditions operate on the basis of strategic partnership and coordination between the federal and state governments.

The federal government would only step in to provide affordable housing under certain conditions, e.g. land swap or deficient supply caused by failure of both thepublic and private sector involvement.

Direct intervention by the federal government by-passing the particular state will be made based on: