Selangor works with Rehda to provide affordable homes

• “We asked Rehda why many developers were not building affordable housing to meet demand and were informed that there were many factors beyond their control, such as the rising cost of building materials,” Selangor housing, urban wellbeing and entrepreneur development committee chairman Rodziah Ismail.

SHAH ALAM (Nov 4): The Selangor government has received input from Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia (Rehda) to help overcome challenges faced by developers in providing affordable homes.

“We asked Rehda why many developers were not building affordable housing to meet demand and were informed that there were many factors beyond their control, such as the rising cost of building materials,” Selangor housing, urban wellbeing and entrepreneur development committee chairman Rodziah Ismail told The Star at the Rehda Selangor Housing Convention (RSHC) 2022 held at the Shah Alam Convention Centre recently.

“So we need to come up with a win-win solution whereby developers not only build houses to be sold on the free market but can also build the affordable homes that the government and people require.

“We updated our regulations based on discussions with Rehda,” she added.

According to Rodziah, the Selangor 3.0 Policy is the state government’s plan to outline housing matters.

Also under the plan are initiatives to assist single people and newlyweds to purchase a home.

Meanwhile, Rehda Selangor chairman Datuk Zaini Yusoff told The Star that “This year’s theme titled ‘Policies and Regulatory Updates Impacting the Housing Industry’ aims to fill the gap between current and forthcoming regulations”.

“Topics discussed by speakers included sustainable and affordable housing, social impact assessment, planning guidelines, workers’ quarters as well as Koridor Utiliti Selangor updates on work permit applications.

“Responsive, respected and responsible private developers need to keep abreast of the latest updates impacting the housing industry,” he added.