KUALA LUMPUR: The government should develop more practical policies to tackle the housing crisis.
In the latest episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast, co-hosts Shahril Hamdan and Khairy Jamaluddin said this was more important than endorsing long-term housing loans as a solution.
Shahril said the proposal, announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, was a "populist" move.
The former Umno information chief argued that such an approach would worsen the housing market crisis rather than assist the underprivileged in securing affordable homes.
"Simply put, I disagree because I've long been critical of politicians' obsession with making it easier for people to buy homes. It's as if just because the public desires homeownership, we should make everything easy without considering the consequences for the buyers themselves — larger, more burdensome debts.
"Seventy-six cent of Malaysian households have savings of less than three months. We are well aware of the soaring house prices, which far outpace the rise in incomes," he said.
Instead, Shahril suggested that the government focus on curbing the escalation of house prices through bold policies.
"For instance, there are ways to impose certain restrictions on second, third, or fourth home purchases. More importantly, the focus should be on raising Malaysians' income levels before encouraging them to take on more debt to buy homes," he added.
Shahril also advised the younger generation to delay their aspirations for homeownership, as research supported by the Khazanah Research Institute indicates it may not be the best path for everyone.
Meanwhile, former minister Khairy urged the government not to create policies based on the interests of housing developers.
He said there were currently about 22,000 unsold properties worth RM14 billion, with 60 per cent involving ready-built apartments and condominiums.
"In terms of unsold completed houses, nearly 60 per cent of them are apartments priced between RM300,000 and RM1 million.
"Who are the buyers? Clearly, there aren't enough. The government needs to act as a regulator... they build houses in this price range and then struggle to sell," he said.
Khairy said he hoped that in the 2025 Budget, the government would review the national housing policy and not bow to the demands of housing developers.
"If we continue with the current system, which essentially gives a green light to everything developers want, while the market clearly isn't there, we will be adding to the debt burden, particularly for young Malaysians," he added.
On Thursday, Zahid announced that proposals under the National Housing Policy, including the provision of long-term housing loans, would be discussed by the Finance Ministry with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Housing and Local Government Ministry.
He had said this was among the matters agreed upon during the Executive Committee Meeting of the National Action Council on Cost of Living (NACCOL).