Rethinking affordable housing in malaysia

These people live in the city suburbs and work at the city core. This creates the disconnect between working and living, coupled with traffic congestion, jams, air and noise pollution on a daily occurrence as they head to and from work. These problematic issues would be preventable if the whole idea of affordable housing was changed from just smart growth and sustainable development elements, to incorporate micro-housing, as discussed in this research paper. This is a concept that favors the young professionals and youths who find living in the city comfortably and micro-housing provides small units usually around 350 square feet in size. This is two-fold;(1)small scaled and thus adaptable to the ever diminishing land, and (2)they are affordable which makes them accessible by the medium-income single families; cheaper rent while living in the city.

However, on the other hand, the design for studio apartments that has drastically reduced as people opt for family-based developments that have huge luxuries living spaces. Prof. Vidich identifies this gap as an increasing demand for affordable housing in the midst of the high cost of living in the city. It is a climax point where demand is at its optimum, without amicable design solutions. This research identifies the role of the architect, together with other designers and city planners, in rethinking the concept of affordability. This research indicates that the middle-income earners are looking for centrally located, affordable and transport-linked apartments; which sums up the micro-apartment concept. Affordability of housing-micro housing According to Eric Brunge of nArchitects, affordability of housing should not only be a concept of ethics and human rights but an element of diversity, vibrancy in the socioeconomic resilience of the city.

This would only be made possible if the living and working environments are flexible, the creation of a link between the social life and the residential apartments, sustainability and creating the idea of owning through sharing. ““It’s very important that cities remain affordable. It’s not just a question of human right and ethics, it’s the only key to a really diverse and vibrant and social and economic resilient city. The expanding demand for housing has led to the expansion of the city boundaries and creation of high rise developments in the suburbs. The research will be helpful in the following aspects: 1. Understanding the concept of micro-housing and housing affordability is crucial for implementing the housing policies. The city core has abandoned structures and old housing that if remodeled and converted into newly refurbished micro-apartments may bring life back into the city.

Furthermore, micro-housing will create a ‘single integrated system’ where one is flexible to live, work and socially engage others. Site visit and analysis Firstly, the available literature on housing affordability for the middle income earners will be analyzed to understand the context and precedents of the housing affordability. Then case studies in Selangor and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will be analyzed so that an understanding of existing policies and layouts on affordable housing. This will be critical in analyzing the strengths and weakness of the ‘as-built’ layouts, giving a chance for rethinking of future design proposals. Site analysis will be crucial for understanding the available amenities, developmental control and plot ratios with relationship to the details in City halls such as in Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

Limitations of the study design Micro-housing is a new concept and therefore resistance to implementation is expected, so are negative reviews from customers who disregard its claustrophobic effect. This case study will reveal how the Malaysian government is increasing its efforts to provide homes to all its citizens by adopting three basic ways; the low-cost house units have been increasingly supplied making it possible for purchase, remodelling, and restructuring abandoned housing projects, and lastly crafting financial schemes such as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) that enables users to combine existing and future savings to fund their house purchase. Keywords: Housing, affordability, restructuring, remodelling Title of Dissertation: A CASE STUDY REVIEW ON THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN SELANGOR, MALAYSIA Research Question(s) Housing affordability in the ever-expanding city has been given several approaches, as solutions, such as the smart model, sites and services and the incremental housing.

The research will identify the differential perspectives of renting and owning. A middle-income group is a diverse group comprised of multi-families and single families, and even the young graduates and starters. The following questions will be form the basis for the research design. Akademika, 78(1). This is an article that links house prices with the housing affordability. According to Hashim, the market residential property in Malaysia has gone through a price expansion period for the last 15 years, which has led to increased housing rates. In accordance with the economic theory, the price increment is directly related to regional demographics such as per capita income, capital, population change and stock prices. Nevertheless, sudden price fluctuations and movements have a negative impact on housing, especially home ownership.

In the state of Selangor, the Selangor Zakat Board (SZB) started social housing provision, with over 906 units delivered by 2007. This paper is an evaluation of the effectiveness of the housing satisfaction model in determining consumer satisfaction. This is similar to the proposed methodology of the customer approach. The paper compares different programmes in the SZB platform and engages its beneficiaries for testing the level of housing satisfaction through the features of housing unit support services, unit features, social environment, neighborhood and public facilities. The scope of the SZB programme was found to be satisfactory, and flexible enough to allow the incorporation of other programmes such as the concept of micro-housing. 7% have been implemented. Even though the report uses Kuala Lumpur as its case study, Selangor housing faces similar issues and challenges which prompt designers, town planners and architects to rethink the concept of housing affordability.

Low medium income level group is the target market for the proposed micro-housing. Suhaida, M. S. Research on housing affordability concept is a complex phenomenon that requires the integration of several models; the most crucial being finance and design models. According to Suhaida, the measure of the socio-economic stability of a country is measured by its housing affordability. This report analyses the practical application of some of the affordability measures that have been suggested by previous research, such as the Price-Income Ratio(PIR), as a measure of the first owned medium cost landed-house by the Malaysian middle-income groups. The same PIR can be a reflective methodology to use in determining the affordability of micro-housing (apartments). Suhaida, M. This report is built on the same framework as the aforementioned PIR but as opposed to the price index analysis, this details the nature of the concepts of home ownership for the first owners under the medium income group in Selangor, Malaysia.

It highlights housing affordability not a housing feature, but a housing service that connects the desire to rent or buy, with the customer’s capacity. It is a connecting link between people and housing. Due to its complexity, relying on methods of measurements such as price ratios and incomes will always produce less accurate results. Other factors such as education levels, housing subsidies by the government, number of working households and the type of occupation of the target group must be critically considered. Akademika, 78(1). Mohit, M. A. , & Nazyddah, N. Social housing programme of Selangor Zakat Board of Malaysia and housing satisfaction. , Hamzah, N. , Che-Ani, A. I. , Basri, H. , & Yuzainee, M. , & Tahir, M. M. A conceptual overview of housing affordability in Selangor, Malaysia.