Kuala lumpur: A total of 1,333 delayed, sick, and abandoned private housing projects, involving 159,638 residential units with a gross development value of RM126.47 billion, have been revived by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) as of October 31. Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government Datuk Aiman Athirah Sabu stated that the move was taken to safeguard buyers from losses due to project delays and to restore confidence in the private housing sector.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the deputy minister emphasized that in order to ensure developers take this issue seriously, the ministry has taken stern action, including prosecution, compounds, and blacklisting developers who fail to comply with regulations under Act 118. This statement was made during the oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat, in response to a question from Aminolhuda Hassan (Sri Gading) regarding the government's actions to address the issue of abandoned projects affecting first-time house buyers and the ongoing difficulty in obtaining affordable housing.
Aiman Athirah explained that blacklisted developers are prohibited from applying for development licences or advertising and sales permits for new projects. Additionally, a list of problematic projects is available on the KPKT portal as a reference for buyers. She also mentioned that Act 118 is being improved to ensure more disciplined financial management and reduce the risk of abandoned projects in the future.
In terms of affordable housing, the deputy minister highlighted that the public faces difficulty in securing housing loans due to poor credit records, high household debt, and unstable income or lack of official pay slips. To address this, the government, through the Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme (SJKP), provides financing guarantees of up to RM500,000 for the purchase of a first home.
Furthermore, the government has implemented a rent-to-own scheme in seven states, enabling 6,958 families to become homeowners. Initiatives such as the Home Ownership Campaign 2.0 and tax relief of up to RM7,000 have been introduced to ease the financial burden on first-time house buyers. Aiman Athirah concluded by stating that these initiatives are part of the government's comprehensive strategy to ensure that affordable housing is more accessible, reasonably priced, and safe to own.