An Assessment of Housing Affordability at District Levels for

   AN ASSESSMENT OF HOUSING AFFORDABILITY AT DISTRICT LEVELS FOR THE STATE OF PERAK, SELANGOR, MELAKA AND JOHOR

 Assoc. Professor TPr. Dr. Mariana Mohamed Osman

(Project Leader)

Assoc. Professor TPr. Dr. Syahriah Bachok

Asst. Prof. Dr. Noor Suzilawati Rabe

Asst. Prof. Dr. Syakir Amir Ab. Rahman

(Research Assistant)

Muhammad Adib Ramlee

Farah Eleena Zainudin

ABSTRACT

Home ownership or the ability to own residential property has been a goal for everyone. Property ownership can create stability, wealth creation and improve individual quality of life. It also shows the ability of an individual to own a decent house, in order to give a better living environment despite all difficulties in housing issues. The government need to provide and plan suitable housing policies for all which is considered to be sustainable housing policy. The development of affordable housing in Malaysia has become a necessity and the level of income people is low based on the national household income survey for 2012 is RM 4,025, 2014 is RM 4585 and 2016 is RM 5,228 . Although there are various housing policies and strategies outlined to regulate and monitor the housing supply in Malaysia, however, many developers and private sector are tend not to build houses within the affordable range but tend to build high-cost houses sold within the RM400,000 and above range (NAPIC, 2016). The study intends to develop the housing affordability index (HAI) according to districts in Malaysia. This study uses mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative research methodology to assess and develop housing affordability index for districts in selected States namely Perak, Selangor, Melaka and Johor. These states were selected due to their progressive development and effective housing policies. The study intends to examine the issues and problems relating to housing affordability of population at districts in these states which varies according to urban and rural area, income level as well as housing stock. Secondary data collection will be conducted through the literature reviews and data collection on the current housing stock and committed housing development from the local authorities. From that, the housing affordability index at districts level in these states will be developed and affordability housing price for each district will be determined in the study. For primary data collection, semi-structured questionnaire survey will be undertaken at urban and rural area for every district in the selected States in order to identify the issues and problems relating to housing affordability. Overall, findings from the research will help in assisting the state and local authority policy on housing development, decision making and resource-allocation processes to develop long-term strategic policy on housing need and demand related to local housing strategies and development plans.

Keywords: Homeownership, Housing Affordability Index, Perak, Selangor, Melaka, Johor