Affordable Housing Analysis in Malaysia: Strategic Challenges and Way Forward

Authors

  • Nursyafeqah Ajmal Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA, MALAYSIA
  • Alya Jazmine Abdullah Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA, MALAYSIA
  • Nur Safra Asyura Abdul Hadi Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA, MALAYSIA
  • Nur Fatihah Saifullizan Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA, MALAYSIA
  • Syaza Amira Illyana Mohammad Radzi Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA, MALAYSIA
  • Fadilah Puteh Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA, MALAYSIA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24191/a0054w44

Keywords:

Affordable housing, Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Strategic Challenges, Malaysia, strategic management

Abstract

Affordable housing is defined as housing that is adequate in quality and location but not so expensive that its tenants are unable to meet other basic living necessities. Malaysia's significant scarcity of affordable housing has become a national critical issue, compounded by growing urbanisation. This article digs into many difficulties that contribute to the housing crisis, such as the growing of high land value, land use restriction, land allocation and cost, lack of monitoring especially on government projects and accounts, unintegrated system within and among the ministries, technological changes, political instability, high expectation from the public and added with the bureaucratic bottleneck. The article critically assesses the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (MHLG) efforts to resolve this demanding situation. The study uses strategic management approaches such as PEST technique for external analysis, the McKinsey 7-S technique for internal analysis as well as SWOT technique for thorough analysis on the contributing factors with regards to the absence of affordable housing in Malaysia setting. Furthermore, the TOWS technique is utilized to generate feasible strategic options. This article hopes to bring significant insights to Malaysia's ongoing debate about affordable housing and influence future policy decisions aimed at tackling this critical challenge, detailing realistic ideas to improve the affordability of housing in Malaysia.

References

Alwan, Z., Jones, P., & Holgate, P. (2017). Strategic sustainable development in the UK Construction industry, through the framework for strategic sustainable development, using building information modelling. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140(1), 349-358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.12.085.

Amreel, I. (2023, February 10). Bangunkan platform digital untuk maklum balas agensi kerajaan. Retrieved from Sinar Harian at

https://www.sinarharian.com.my/article/244596/berita/nasional/bangunkanplatform-digital-untuk-maklum-balas-agensi-kerajaan.

Anand, R. (2023, February 26). Residents’ spruce-up effort a bright spot amid Malaysia’s affordable housing woes. Retrieved from The Straits Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/residents-spruce-up-effort-a-brightspot-amid-malaysia-s-affordable-housing-woes.

Baizura, J., Yusfida, A., & Hazlina, H. (2016). Encapsulating the delivery of affordable housing: An overview of Malaysian practice. MATEC Web of Conferences, The 4th International Building Control Conference 2016 (IBCC 2016), 66, 1-8.

Bilal., Guraya S. Y., & Chen, S. (2019). The impact and effectiveness of faculty development program in fostering the faculty's knowledge, skills, and professional competence: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Saudi

Journal of Biological Sciences, 26(4), 688-697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2017.10.024.

Butković, L. L., Mihić, M., Nahod, M. M., & Sigmund, Z. (2023). The benefits of cost-benefit analysis in construction projects. Proceedings of the 6th IPMA SENET project management conference “digital transformation and sustainable development in project management.” doi:10.5592/CE/SENET.2022.27.

Chuah, S. (2022, April 6). Housing integrated management system: what housing developers need to know? Retrieved from RDS Advocates and Solicitors: https://www.rdslawpartners.com/post/housing-integrated-management-systemwhat- housing-developers-need-to-know.

Czischke, D. (2018). Collaborative housing and housing providers: towards an analytical framework of multi-stakeholder collaboration in housing coproduction. International Journal of Housing Policy, 18(1), 55-81. doi:

10.1080/19491247.2017.1331593.

Daud, M. A., Rosly, S. A., & Sori, Z. M. (2022). Understanding issues of affordable housing in Malaysia to attract investment. Planning Malaysia: Journal of the Malaysian Institute of Planners, 20(1), 1-12. doi:10.21837/pm.v20i20.1074.

Davidson, F. (2022) Learning from urban projects: why and how we should unlock the learning potential of urban development projects and programmes. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 14(1), 403-408. doi:

10.1080/19463138.2022.2042305.

Dzulkifly, D. (2022, July 13). No legal power behind online housing management system: Bar. Retrieved from The Vibes:

https://www.thevibes.com/articles/news/65594/no- legal-power-behind-onlinehousing-management-system-bar.

Fateh, M. A., Mohamed, M. R., & Omar, S. A. (2022). The involvement of local skilled labour in Malaysia’s construction industry. Frontiers in Built Environment, 8. doi:10.3389/fbuil.2022.861018.

Hayes, A. (2023, March 28). What is a cost-benefit analysis? Retrieved from Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cost-benefitanalysis.asp.

Ismail, S., Wai, C. C. W., Hamid, H. A., Mustapha, N. F., Ho, G., Theng, T. T., Kamaruzuki, M. N., & Firouz, A. M. M. (2019). Rethinking housing: between state, market and society. Kuala Lumpur: Khazanah Research Institute.

Jeyakumar, R. (2023, June 23). Four ways to provide quality housing for lower-income households. Retrieved from Aliran: https://m.aliran.com/thinking-allowed- online/four-ways-to-provide-quality-housing-for-lower-income-households.

Kaur, S. (2022, November 24). A few high-rise residences in KL, Selangor and Penang show an upward trend. Retrieved from New Straits Times (NST): https://www.nst.com.my/property/2022/11/854556/few-high-rise-residences-kl- selangor-and-penang-show-upward-trend.

Liu, J., & Ong, H. Y. (2021). Can Malaysia’s national affordable housing policy guarantee housing affordability of low-income households? Sustainability, 13(16). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168841.

Loong, C. K. (2021, May 18). Would amending the HDA honestly solve the problem of abandoned housing projects? Retrieved from National House Buyers Association: https://www.iproperty.com.my/guides/housing-development-acthda-abandoned- housing-projects-642.

Loong, C. K. (2023, April 27). National housing policy – a great blueprint awaiting implementation. Retrieved from the Edge Prop: https://www.edgeprop.my/content/1905965/national-housing-policy%E2%80%93- great-blueprint-awaiting-implementation.

Mahalingam, E. (2023, June 10). Tackling the housing affordability issue. Retrieved from The Star: https://www.pressreader.com/malaysia/the-star-malaysia- starbiz/20230610/281586654998308.

Mariadas, P. A. (2021, August 27). political instability, property investment and economic growth. Retrieved from Bebas News:

https://bebasnews.my/2021/08/27/political- instability-property-investment-andeconomic-growth/ .

Mariadas, P. A., & Murthy, U. (2023, July 13). LETTER | Housing market in Malaysia faces various challenges. Retrieved from Malaysia Kini: https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/671778.

Masram, H., & Misnan, S. H. (2019). Evolution of policy for affordable housing programmes in Malaysia. International Journal of Accounting, Finance and Business (IJAFB), 4(17), 86-98.

Mohd-Rahim, F. A., Zainon, N., Sulaiman, S., Lou, E., Zulkifli, N. H., & Ayob, M. F. (2019). Factors affecting the ownership of low-cost housing for socioeconomic development in Malaysia. Journal of Building Performance, 10(1).

Mondal, B., & Das, D. N. (2018). How residential compactness and attractiveness can be shaped by environmental amenities in an industrial city? Sustainable Cities and Society, 41(1). doi:10.1016/j.scs.2018.05.022.

Musaddad, H. A., Maamor, S., & Zainol, Z. (2023). Affordability of affordable housing in northern region of Malaysia. Malaysian Management Journal, 27, 183-209. https://doi.org/10.32890/mmj2023.27.8.

Olanrewaju, A. L., & Tan, S. Y. (2018). An exploration into design criteria for affordable housing in Malaysia. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 16(3), 360-384.

Olanrewaju, A. L., & Idrus, A. (2019). What is determining affordable housing shortages in the greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia? Property Management, 38(1), 52-81. doi:10.1108/PM-05-2019-0025.

Ong, T. K. (2020, August 6). What ails the Malaysian residential property sector. Retrieved from The Edge Malaysia: https://theedgemalaysia.com/article/whatails-malaysian-residential-property-sector.

Poo Liang, A. E. C. (2023). Community-based affordable housing design idea in

Malaysia. Retrieved from Construction Plus Asia:

https://www.constructionplusasia.com/my/community-based-affordablehousing-design-idea-in-malaysia/.

Rasid, A. H. (2019, September 24). Residential overhang in 1H19 mainly contributed by "affordable" units. Retrieved from New Straits Times (NST): https://www.nst.com.my/business/2019/09/524168/residential-overhang-1h19mainly-contributed-affordable-units#google_vignette.

Shahzad, A., Zakaria, M. S. A., Kotzab, H., Makki, M. A. M., Hussain, A., & Fischer, J. (2023). Adoption of fourth industrial revolution 4.0 among Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), 693. doi:10.1057/s41599-023-02076-0.

Shen, K. H., & Burhan, B. (2020). A Study on challenges and issues of PRIMA. Research in Management of Technology and Business, 1(1), 741-755.

Sidiq, A. (2023, November 18). A land rights battle for Indonesia’s Rempang Island. Retrieved from East Asia Forum: https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2023/11/18/aland- rights-battle-for-indonesias-rempang-island/.

Tobi, S. U. M., Jasimin, T. H., & Rani, W. N. M. W. M. (2020). Overview of affordable housing from supply and demand context in Malaysia. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 409, 1-8. doi:

10.1088/1755-1315/409/1/012010.

Yeap, C. (2022, May 9). The State of the Nation: Solving housing (un)affordability issue good for households and the economy. Retrieved from The Edge Malaysia: https://theedgemalaysia.com/article/state-nation-solving-housingunaffordability-issue-good-households-and-economy.

Zain, Z. M. (2019). Politik birokrasi dalam pelaksanaan projek perumahan di negeri terpilih di Malaysia. Doctoral thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia.

Zain, Z. M., Ku Samsu, K. H., Adnan, Z. H., & Ismail, M. M. (2018). Bureaucratic Politics (BP): Identifying The Causes And Elements That Contribute To The Development Of Housing Projects During The Implementation Of The National Housing Policy (NHP). Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 9(2), 50-57.

Zainuldeen, D. (2023). Personal communication. (Jazmine, A, Ajmal, S, Interviewer).

Zamri, A. M. (2020). Home ownership gaps among the middle income group in Malaysia. Journal of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (JOSTIP), 6(2), 34-47. https://doi.org/10.11113/jostip.v6n2.53

Downloads

Published

2026-04-30

How to Cite

Affordable Housing Analysis in Malaysia: Strategic Challenges and Way Forward. (2026). Journal of Administrative Science, 23(1), 114-139. https://doi.org/10.24191/a0054w44