The recent study by Bank Negara on the housing situation in Malaysia is alarming. Yet again this country has to face with the fact that we have affordability issues when it comes to something as essential as housing.
According to the study, houses in Malaysia remain seriously unaffordable by international standards as the median house price in Malaysia is actually RM313,000, while our maximum affordable house price should only be around RM282,000 with a median national household income at RM5,228.
Bank Negara outlined several key factors to this, and in gist it is down to supply and demand mismatch, more houses build at the unaffordable range and household income growing at a slower pace than house prices.
Bank Negara also raised the issue of the big number of Federal and State Government housing agencies.
Pakatan Harapan has time and again reminded the government that this is an issue we need to seriously address.
More and more families are unable to afford their own home, and the younger generation are struggling to make ends meet much less put a roof over their head burdened by insurmountable debt.
Back in 2013, the UMNO-Barisan Nasional Government promised to build one million affordable houses in a term, and five years on we are seeing the opposite in reality with more houses being build at an unaffordable range.
The Najib Razak administration has obviously failed to fulfill their promise, and on top of that allowed for the cost of living to increase, wages to stagnate and young graduates are now struggling to find decent paying jobs.
Part of Pakatan Harapan Youth’s Tawaran Harapan Anak Muda is to build one million affordable homes in two terms and we are determined to work with all parties to ensure that this happens. The rent-to-own scheme will also be expanded.
We have also outlined new jobs to be created for Malaysians and an increase in minimum wage to RM1,500.
If the country continues on this path, majority of the people will not have a place to call their own and that is not a future that we are ready to face. This needs to change, and this can only happen if we change the existing Federal Government.
NIK NAZMI NIK AHMAD
PAKATAN HARAPAN YOUTH LEADER
PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT YOUTH LEADER
