Affordable housing: Singapore housing policies analysis and its implementation in Malaysia

Abstract

Housing affordability is one of the key variables that can portray the socioeconomic stability and development of a nation. Housing affordability is important so that houses provided are at reasonable and affordable prices for all income groups. These have led the Government of Malaysia in formulating policies and programs aim at ensuring Malaysians have the opportunity and chance to obtain an appropriate place to stay. Meanwhile, Singapore is one of the countries being acknowledged for their successful affordable housing ownership through good housing policies implementation. Consequently, the objective of this research is to analyse the existing housing policies in Singapore and highlight the strength of its policies. The findings showed that the strengths of Singapore housing policies are 1)Government controls 85% of the market for housing while developers only control 15%; 2)Government should assist in loan offering and ensuring that buyers pay less in monthly mortgage payment; 3)Only citizens and permanent residents are allowed to buy a house; 4)Citizens or permanent residents should only be allowed to buy a maximum of 2 houses at the same time; 5)Mandatory monthly deduction up to 15% of salary and 10% of salary from employer to finance the purchase of an affordable house. Based on the findings, questionnaire surveys have been developed and distributed to 350 respondents to gain their insights regarding the implementation of Singapore housing policies in Malaysia. Majority of the respondents agreed that Malaysia should implement similar policies to increase the percentage of home buyer in affordable housing based on 115 returned responses received.