So far, so good?

Malaysia’s 61st National Day celebrations hold new meaning for our country and its people after the historic change in government following the 14th General Election on May 9. The rakyat is celebrating with fresh fervour and renewed hope and the burden of turning that hope into reality lies largely on the shoulders of the new government.

The moment the new Malaysian government was formed in the days after Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the election, every move of those in government especially the cabinet ministers led by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been scrutinised by the people who had voted them in with high hopes that the mandate given would be fulfilled.

The new government has just passed its first 100 days which coincides with ongoing National Day celebrations which will culminate on Aug 31.

And while the nation celebrates, it also needs to take stock and keep the new government on its toes. How has the government fared in its first 100 days? How can it move forward to realise the hopes of the people?

To find out, EdgeProp.my has come up with a report card of sorts (see page 6) on the ruling coalition’s performance thus far in relation to housing and real estate sector issues and the related promises it had made. A total of 13 respondents from 12 organisations representing relevant stakeholders took part in the poll (see pages 9 to 15).

They were the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) president Datuk Soam Heng Choon, Rehda Institute chairman Datuk Jeffrey Ng, the Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Consultants in the Private Sector Malaysia (PEPS) immediate past president Foo Gee Jen, its current president Michael Kong, Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) president Eric Lim, Malaysian Institute of Professional Estate Agents and Consultants (MIPEAC) secretary general Low Weng Soon, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) senior fellow Carmelo Ferlito, Save KL Coalition (SKL) deputy chairperson Datuk M Ali, Malaysian Institute of Property and Facility Managers (MIPFM) president Sarkunan Subramaniam, Building Managers Association of Malaysia (BMAM) president Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok, Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) president Ezumi Harzani Ismail, Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP) president Ihsan Zainal Mokhtar and the Economic Club of Kuala Lumpur president Tan Sri Dr Michael Yeoh.

In the survey, EdgeProp.my has listed down a total of 20 items (please refer to the report card) including election promises related to the housing and property sector that were stated in PH’s manifesto. The respondents gauged the efforts of the government in realising key election promises and in resolving issues related to the housing and property sector, based on a minimum score of 1 to a maximum score of 5 as below:

1              Too preliminary to tell

2              Progressing albeit slowly

3              Satisfactory

4              Met expectations

5              Exceeded expectations

We also sought their thoughts on the right things that the government has done so far, the issues it has overlooked and suggestions for improvement going forward.

Ace for enthusiasm

Overall, most “subjects” (promises/issues) received weighted averages of between 1 to 3 with the bulk of them getting 1 and 2 indicating that it is too early to make a fair appraisal of the new government’s performance in such a short time or that there has been progress albeit at snail’s pace.

Nevertheless, the respondents said they were generally impressed with the diligence and enthusiasm shown by the relevant ministers in carrying out their duties and their efforts towards fulfilling the promises made.

Most respondents said the new government, particularly the Housing and Local Government Ministry is moving in the right direction in its efforts to help more Malaysians own homes based on recent announcements on plans to ease lending and to set up a centralised affordable housing council to effectively oversee affordable housing development.

The respondents admitted that housing and development concerns are complicated issues that will need time and careful study to resolve. Nevertheless, they believed that the current government is open to engagements with stakeholders to find solutions to the issues.

As MIP’s Ihsan said, the scores given in the poll do not reflect a failure due to a lack of effort but due to the difficulty in measuring the long-term efforts required in dealing with housing and property issues.

Best performing subjects

Among all the promises/issues, five of them were rated the highest. These were:

1. The setting up of a National Affordable Housing Council (rated 3)

2. The government’s openness to consultation and engagement with stakeholders for feedback (rated 2.85)

3. The move to gazette the Kuala Lumpur City Plan and to draft out new city plans (rated 2.54)

4. Reforming the PR1MA programme (rated 2.39)

5. Improving transparency in the public procurement and project tender process (rated 2.39)

However, there were also areas which some respondents deemed important but have made little or no progress (rated below 2).

These were the promises to provide incentives to small developers to help raise their competitiveness, to take over the maintenance of low-cost housing projects, to work with state governments to convert land status for affordable housing projects, prevent land hoarding activity by developers, to build one million affordable homes within two terms of the government, and recruitment and training for local youths to become property managers.

Change takes time and this was acknowledged by the respondents with a few willing to give the government another six months to one year to come up with more concrete results.

As M Ali of SKL mentioned, the execution of some of the manifesto pledges is expected to be delayed due to current challenges that the new government is facing.

What next?

More importantly, besides rating the government’s performance, the poll participants have also offered some pointers for the government moving forward.

One point that kept cropping up was the call for the government to have more engagement with relevant stakeholders.

Many of the respondents such as Rehda, Rehda Institute, MIEA, MIP, SKL, PEPS and BMAM concurred that engagement with the local community and professional bodies are important to resolve housing problems such as the mismatch in supply and demand in the housing segment.

Ng from Rehda Institute said the new government has to work hand-in-hand with state governments, NGOs, local authorities, the private sector and all relevant stakeholders in the affordable housing industry to effectively deliver its promises as a long-term objective.

Meanwhile, Rehda’s Soam said the issue of cross subsidies for low-cost housing, rising compliance cost and the release of unsold Bumiputera units shouldn’t be neglected either when resolving affordable housing issues.

To improve the overall housing and development ecosystem as well as to ease homeownership, Rehda and Rehda Institute, as well as MIPEAC reckoned that the government needs to take a holistic approach and not only focus on a single problem.

PAM urged the government to establish effective platforms for engagement between architects and government agencies so that both have an equally clear picture of the loopholes in the current planning and development ecosystem.

Meanwhile, The Economic Club of Kuala Lumpur, BMAM and MIP opined that rent-to-own (RTO) schemes could be an effective way to help more Malaysians own a property, hence greater emphasis needs to be given to RTO schemes to enable purchasers to eventually buy the house.

On the issue of end-financing, although the Housing and Local Government Ministry has said it is making efforts towards helping homebuyers get easier access to home loans, IDEAS’ Ferlito warned that the new government should not overlook the financial risks that could come with a relaxation of lending policies.

Low from MIPEAC also hopes that red tape can be reduced as he felt that the people still have to deal with a lot of bureaucracy in the government administration which could put a drag on change.

As the nation strives to build a safe and harmonious community, MIPFM’s Sarkunan expressed concern over public safety and hoped that the new government will pay more attention to social problems especially among the young.

There is certainly much to do moving forward but it is heartening to know that the government is open to feedback and suggestions which various stakeholders are more than willing to provide. After all, the goal is to come up with decisions and policies that benefit the people. Certainly to build a strong and vibrant Malaysia, the government will need all the help it can get as we look forward to celebrating many more National Days to come.

This story first appeared in the EdgeProp.my pullout on Aug 24, 2018. Download EdgeProp.my pullout here for free.