Rehda wants affordable housing delivery systems to be under one roof

PETALING JAYA: The Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia (Rehda) Institute is calling for the setting up of a central National Affordable Housing Delivery Centre in view of the growing issue of social housing, under which comes affordable and low-cost housing.

Chairman of its board of trustees Tan Sri Eddy Chen Lok Loi said that as the Government and private developers were involved in the provision of affordable and low cost housing, a central delivery centre would help “to ensure timely and cost efficient supply.”

Chen was giving his welcoming address at a Budget 2015 seminar organised by Rehda Institute yesterday.

Chen, who is also MKH Bhd (formerly Metro Kajang Holdings) managing director, said it would be “most appropriate” to establish it within the purview of the Housing, Urban Wellbeing and Local Government Ministry.

He said all political parties should set aside their differences and adopt a bipartisan approach in order to ensure the smooth delivery of social housing.

This, said Chen, was particularly true of Selangor and Penang - states controlled by Pakatan Rakyat - given that land was a state matter and housing was primarily a land-related industry.

Chen said a central housing delivery centre would help to rationalise the delivery systems of social housing, which at present involves several government agencies, state governments and private developers.

“Our particular concern is the proliferation of agencies tasked to deliver these houses,” he said. These agencies are tasked to build 159,019 units.

These agencies include 1Malaysia Civil Servants’ Housing (PPA1M) (16,000 units), 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme (PR1MA) (80,000 units), Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) (37,000 units) and National Housing Department (JPN) (26,000 units).

These 159,000 units exclude those pledged by the various state governments, which varies from 15,000 to 45,000 units per state.

“On top of these are mandatory affordable and low-cost houses imposed on private developers,” estimated at 50,000 units.

“All these (government agencies) may actually target the same buyers. 

“The overlapping roles must, therefore, be minimised,” said Chen. 

He said there was every likelihood that those who intended to buy a PR1MA house, might also be eligible to purchase a PPA1M, a SPNB or a JPN house, all of which are subsidised houses. 

Besides cannibalization among the providers, Chen also raised the spectre of geographical/locational coordination to prevent cannibalization of limited resources as a PR1MA may build their units next to SPNB.

He said setting up a central delivery centre will help to prevent a glut of affordable housing, which translates to misallocation of already scare resources.

is 

“To those who still harp on more cooling measures, let’s be forewarned that such measures will impact the wealth of the nation. Housing and home ownership represent the wealth of a majority of Malaysians. Any measures that affect the primary marekt will inevitably affect the value of the 4.6 million housing stock and hence, the wealth and financial wellbeing of these owners,” he said.

Chairman Tan Sri Eddy Chen, board of trustree (, would like to see some Tan Sri Eddy Chen.which affords both the government and private developers. - The Star