KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — The federal government will not relent on the strict requirements for affordable housing, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today in Parliament.
He said the government has no choice but to be firm in order to tackle a critical housing problem, despite appeals and objections from several property developers.
“More effective and drastic actions must be taken, as housing in Kuala Lumpur and other bigger cities have reached critical level, in fact chronic level and if [we are] serious in reviving this Madani country they must move forward and put in place conditions that are stringent.
“A few companies have appealed and some objected, but I don’t think the government will compromise as we don’t have a choice. We want development to continue but we have to ensure that there are opportunists for the poor to own a house be it being bought, rent-to-own or permanent rental,” Anwar told the Parliament during the Prime Minister’s Question Time here.
He was responding to DAP’s Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun who asked if the government was aware of the stringent conditions imposed on the People’s Housing Project (PPR) that are preventing certain categories of applicants including single individuals who have persons with disability as siblings and elderly parents, from renting the PPR units.
“Right now there are suggestions to allow permanent rental at a lower rate and at the end of the term be handed over to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL),” Anwar added.
Meanwhile, Anwar added that no PPRs that are built on Malay reserve land have been allowed for non-Bumiputera applicants.
He was responding to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s Langkawi MP Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah who asked if it was true that the PPRs built on Malay reserve land were offered for rental to non-Bumiputera applicants.
“Regarding Malay reserve land, that is specifically for Malays, that is a Constitution issue and there is no breach in that area,” Anwar said.
Last week, Anwar said the current policy requiring property developers to build at least 30 per cent of affordable housing as part of their housing projects was not addressing the issue of affordable housing shortage at the speed and scale required, and that he has asked the Local Government Development Ministry to relook the policies and impose new conditions.
In response, a business group said the government should build new towns with affordable housing for rental only by those in the lower income group, and change the current “unfair” policy of having middle-income (M40) house buyers pay for part of the costs of affordable housing.
The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) said it welcomed Anwar’s call for a review of the nation’s affordable housing policy as “timely”, but went on to suggest a complete overhaul of the current policy.
