1.
PERUMAHAN RAKYAT 1 MALAYSIA (PR1MA)
According to a study conducted by the government in urban areas, there
is a lack of affordable homes for the middle-income group, hence PR1MA was
developed as a strategic intervention to ensure that people with middle-income
in Malaysia do not miss out on the opportunity to have their own homes (Joma
Ali Ziahee, n.d.). PR1MA or its full term is Perumahan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (the 1
Malaysia People’s Housing program) is one of the Malaysian government’s
incentives to help the citizen in getting their own house. This program is first
established on 4 July 2011 by former Prime Minister, Datuk Sri Najib Razak
([Link], 2014). In a simplest term, PR1MA is a housing development
program established by the government to help people. PR1MA has several
projects including PR1MA Alam Damai, PR1MA Seremban Sentral, Nusantara
PR1MA, PR1MA Penang, PR1MA Seremban Utara and several more projects.
Furthermore, PR1MA was established under the PR1MA Act 2012 to roll
out a thorough and extensive programme in building quality homes for those in
the middle-income bracket in urban and suburban areas with a monthly
household income of between RM2,500 and RM10,000. In addition, 60 percent
of the population falls within this category of household income. This means
that, together with other government initiatives, 90 percent of Malaysian people
will be covered by government-funded programmes. The program's houses will
be priced between RM100,000 and RM400,000 and will be located in
sustainable communities (Joma Ali Ziahee, n.d.).
Technically, it is managed by the corporation PR1MA Malaysia which
owned by the government under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
Its mission which according to PR1MA Corporation Malaysia (n.d.) is to plan,
develop and provide affordable and high-quality homes that inspired by the
modern living concepts for middle-income Malaysians.
1.1. Objective of PR1MA
One of the objectives of the launch of PR1MA is to provide affordable housing
for the middle-income group as a catalyst. PR1MA’s primary focus is on the middle-
income household in Malaysia that receive income from RM2,500 to RM10,000
(Khoo, 2020). In order to meet this objective, the main focus will be eyes on doing a
demand study to determine the requirement for PR1MA houses so that quality,
supply, and demand can be monitored and managed. Other than that, the main
focus will also undertake the supervising, planning, and executing the design,
construction, maintenance, and operations of PR1MA houses and communities;
developing the PR1MA brand by establishing and enforcing development standards;
set the selling prices and assign PR1MA properties to people who are eligible to
purchase them. They also focusing as well as providing financial aid to consumers
and encouraging public-private partnerships to expedite order delivery.
The PR1MA Bill was introduced to keep track of issues like a housing
development and construction, infrastructure, and other facilities under the PR1MA
housing programme, as well as to form a PR1MA Corporation Malaysia. According
to Joma Ali Ziahee, (n.d.), the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
said that the Bill is crucial as it established to alleviate the financial strains that the
middle-income group felt while living in cities. He added PR1MA will be an institution
with a special specialisation to take over strategic steps in settling down the issue of
financial restraints faced by the middle-income group efficiently and effectively
(Joma Ali Ziahee, n.d.).
1.2. Issue and Challenges of PR1MA
PR1MA development was facing several issues and challenges starting from
its establishment in 2014. Saieed (2016) as cited in Khoo (2020) stated that Abdul
Mutalib Alias, the chief executive officer PR1MA has mentioned several major
challenges facing through the development of PR1MA. One of the most debateable
issue that had been mentioned by Abdul Mutalib is to acquire and looking for the
suitable location for PR1MA housing. This is also one of the factors that lead to the
slow delivery of PR1MA housing. Several state governments have allotted land for
PR1MA where they intend to urbanize it, but these areas are likely to be far from
amenities and transportation linkages, as places that are closer to local amenities
such as schools, hospitals, retailing outlets and public transportation station can only
be classified as a decent location (Lip Sean and Teck Hong, 2014).
Other challenges and issues facing by the PR1MA housing is to obtain
planning approval from the local authorities and developers. Saieed (2016) as cited
in Khoo (2020) mentioned that there are so many levels to go through during the
approval process of PR1MA housing which obtaining planning permission will or can
create delays in the implementation of the approved PR1MA project. This make
obtaining planning approval is one of PR1MA's problems. Different states in
Malaysia have their own criteria or standards when it comes to granting planning
authorization, thus PR1MA stakeholders must collaborate to meet that demand.
According to Aziz, Yi, and Jaafar (2006), housing developers must quickly adjust to
land-use requirements due to constantly changing rules and policies, and they also
complain about the time it takes to gain planning clearance, which causes them to
lose money.
The increasing cost in the construction industry also become one of the
challenge in development of PR1MA. The developers have many cost to bear in the
development project as the construction cost keep increasing and the high land
price. As a result, the majority of developers are hesitant to partner with the
government to construct the PR1MA dwelling. This is proven by the fact that none of
the top 10 developers invited to a PR1MA company meeting are interested in
working on PR1MA development (Saieed, 2016). However, this issue is solved
when PR1MA collaborates with the Real Estate and Housing Developers
Association (REHDA) to explain how PR1MA operates on a roadshow, which
resulted in more than 900 offers from developers. One of the developers that
involved with PR1MA development is Bina Puri Holdings Bhd.
2. RUMAH MESRA RAKYAT (RMR)
RMR or Rumah Mesra Rakyat (Affordable Homes) is a housing program
established by the government to favor those with lower income earners in
Malaysia. For instance, farmers, fishermen, and poor families without homes or
old homes who have access to land, in building and owning more comfortable,
cheap dwellings. The concept of this house is one single storey house with 3
bedroom and two bathrooms. RMR is launched under Syarikat Perumahan
Negara (SPNB) for household who receive income less that RM2000 per month
or being recognized as poor household. SPNB is a national housing
development organization owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated of
Malaysia and is established in 1997 (About SPNB, 2021).
Starting from 3 August 2018, SPNB is put under the purview of Ministry
of Housing and Local Government. However, the goals of SPNB does not
change as this organization still aims to alleviate the problem of mismatch and
to address the poor's housing shortage. SPNB has achieved outstanding
success in its attempts to deliver quality affordable homes since its founding in
August 1997.
2.1. Objective of RMR
Everyone wanted a proper house to live with their family properly even
though it is not a luxury house as long as they have a place to protect their family.
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, shelter fall on the first place of the
hierarchy which pointed that everyone needs a house to live. With the
implementation of Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR) by the government, their dreams
may become reality as one of the objectives of RMR is to help people with lower
income in having their own house. However, they must have their own lands first
to build and own comfortable and affordable homes. As we all know, most of the
people who live in rural areas have their own land inherited from generation to
generation. However, the problem occurs as they did not have enough money to
build their own house. RMR are focusing on the lower income people such as
farmers, fishermen and poor family who lived in a old and worn house. Their
monthly income should not exceed RM3,000 per month to apply for this housing
2.2. Issues and Challenges of RMR
Since the early development of RMR, it has been facing several issues and
challenges towards development of this housing. One of it is the delay
construction of RMR. Adun Senggarang, Ir Khairuddin A Rahim on his interview
with JohorKini on March 23 this year urged the government to resolve the issue
of RMR operated by SPNB. Khairuddin added that although the construction of
houses like RMR did not bring a lot of profit, but people are waiting for its
completion as promised. According to Khairuddin, there are houses that are still
not being built since 2018 even though the participants that applied for RMR
already had mortgaged the house site to the bank ([Link], 2021).
Other than that, development of RMR is facing the delay as issue of
homeowners that failed to pay the housing loans. TheStar News recorded that
almost 2.7k homeowners of RMR failed to pay their housing loans (Zolkepli,
2020). Tajul Safuan Abu Hasan, the director of SPNB of Perak said the amount
of loans that are failed to pay by the RMR homeowners are recorded at RM3.5mil
with 2,695 homeowners in Perak. In addition, many of these homeowners have
not been paying their loans for the past three years. What make it more worrying
only 30 percent out of 2,695 of homeowners are affected financially by the
pandemic of COVID-19. This issue lead to the delay in building RMR for the
homeowners that already applied for it and also SPNB are unable to built more
RMR for other people.
3.0 PERUMAHAN PENJAWAT AWAM MALAYSIA (PPAM)
PPAM is an acronym for Perumahan Penjawat Awam Malaysia or Malaysia Civil
Servants Housing Program. It is an affordable housing scheme for government civil servants
to help ensure that low income government civil servants could afford to own homes in major
urban areas (Platinum Victory). The program was launched in early 2013 following the
decision of the Cabinet on 30 January 2013 and 27 March 2013 which agreed to review
initiatives to enable civil servants, especially the low and middle income earners, to buy
houses, especially in major cities (PPAM Portal). YAB Prime Minister, Datuk Sri Najib Razak
on 18 April 2013 announced the development program of 10,336 housing units for the
purpose of the PPAM Program in Putrajaya. In line with the announcement, Perbadanan
Putrajaya has launched and implemented the PPAM Putrajaya project (Phase 1) which is
expected to be completed in 2017/2018 while the PPAM Putrajaya development project
(Phase 2) is still in the planning stage. (PPAM, Wikipidiea)
PPAM are eligible to apply Malaysian citizen. Must be a civil employee who work in
Federal Government, State Government, State Authorities, Local Authorities, Federal
Statutory Bodies and State Statutory Bodies with monthly income below RM10,000. Each
household may apply for more than one project at a time, but the offer will be awarded to
only one project (if successful). Pensionable and contracted civil servants are also eligible to
apply (PPAM, application There are several PPAM project including PPAM Taman Harapan
(Kedah), PPAM Sentral Residen (Pahang), PPAM Admiral Residence (Melaka), PPAM Kg
Tepi Sungai (Kelantan) and PPAM Seri Permata Apartment (Johor).
To ensure that this program can be implemented well, the National Housing
Department will act as the Coordinating Agency for the implementation of the program.
Other implementing agencies such as Perbadanan Putrajaya (PJC) for the Federal Territory
of Putrajaya will assist the National Housing Department in terms of planning,
implementation and monitoring of projects, especially those involving policy matters.
(National Housing Policy (DPN), 2018-2025)
Next, cooperation between the government and private developers to ensure the
sustainability of the PPAM project. Private developers are key players in terms of home
construction for civil servants. Private developers play a role by developing, financing and
selling such units to selected public officials. Houses under the PPAM scheme can be
developed on private land with the help of subsidies by the government or government
-owned land under the Federal Lands Commissioner (FLC). (Ahmad Nashriq, Planning
Malaysia)
Finally, to avoid the disruption of the continuity of PPAM. All housing developer
companies are eligible to participate in this scheme. Developers need to obtain a Housing
Development License and Advertising Permit (APDL) under Act 118, which is regulated by
KPKT, before they can sell units to civil servants. Among the criteria the developer will have
before approving the development is having extensive experience in the housing
development sector, a strong financial background and a proposed business model that can
create a situation between the developer, the buyer and the government. This alternative
can indirectly reduce the burden on the government. (Ahmad Nashriq, Planning Malaysia)
Generally, PPAM is more focused on helping civil servants, especially young civil
servants and middle -income people own quality homes in strategic locations at a
reasonable price or lower than the market price. All civil servants including those working
with the Federal Government, State Government, State/Local Authorities, Federal Statutory
Bodies and State Statutory Bodies are eligible under this program.
3.1 Objective of PPAM
The main goal of PPAM is to help government employees and their children own
property. Government employees earning RM10,000 a month and below are eligible to apply
for this affordable house. This can indirectly help civil servants to have an asset that is a
comfortable place to live at a young age at a cheap price.
PPAM also aims to provide affordable housing for civil servants while emphasizing on
comfort in terms of size, design, quality, location and price of suitable houses for civil
servants. Low -income civil servants also have the opportunity to have a comfortable place
to live at a low price without having to struggle to pay a hefty deposit.
3.2 Issue and Challenges of PPAM
PPAM development was facing several issues and challenges starting from its
establishment in March 2013. First issue is the mismatch between construction costs and
house price supply. The increase in the cost of building materials from year to year does not
increase the burden of the government and developers to build cheap houses with ever
-increasing costs. This is evidenced by data from CIDB and NAPIC showing that house
prices in Malaysia in 2016 have doubled compared to 2008. (National Housing Policy (DPN),
2018-2025)
Other challenges and issues facing by the PPAM housing is to ensure the house is
ready properly. Problems such as increased construction costs as well as internal problems
by the developer can affect the construction time whether completed on time or otherwise.
This is evidenced by the PPAM project in Tapah, when more than 20 civil servants were
stranded after their homes were purchased under the Malaysian Civil Servants Housing
(PPAM) project in Taman Sri Asoka which was still not completed as promised by the
developer. Not only that, home buyers are also stressed when they still have to repay a loan
that has been done through salary deductions between RM1,000 to RM1,500 a month
starting July 2018 even though the house purchased is not yet habitable. (Mohamad Hafizi,
Sinar Harian)
Dissatisfaction among buyers and civil servants. According to the Auditor -General's
2018 report, the majority of buyers of Malaysian Civil Servants Housing (PPAM) in Putrajaya
are satisfied with the location and price of the houses offered, but many are dissatisfied with
the quality and quality of the houses provided. A questionnaire conducted by the National
Audit Department on feedback from 535 respondents involving 3,447 questionnaires found
that 47.62 percent were dissatisfied with the elevator facilities provided and this is supported
by callback report complaint data, which showed a total of 77 damage complaints. reported
in two months the elevator was operating in Dec 2018 and Jan 2019. (Auditor General,
2018)
4.0 PROGRAM PERUMAHAN RAKYAT (PPR)
People's Housing Program or PPR for short is a government program under the National
Housing Policy to provide resettlement for squatters as well as meet the housing needs of
the low -income group (B40). The National Housing Department, Ministry of Housing and
Local Government are the main implementing agencies for PPR projects throughout
Malaysia (DPN, 2018-2025). The purpose of this PPR was introduced is to achieve the goal
of zero squatters in 2000. This program was started to accommodate squatters involved in
government development projects around the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (WPKL)
and the Klang Valley in the State of Selangor.
PPR consists of 2 categories, namely Rental PPR and Owned PPR. All houses built
under both the Owned PPR and Rented PPR programs will use the planning and design
specifications of low-cost housing set by the National Housing Standard for Low-Cost
Housing Flats (CIS3: 2005). The PPR Disewa program was introduced in February 2002 to
rent to the target group (low -income groups and squatters) at a rate of RM124.00 per
month. The government is also implementing PPR Dimiliki which aims to enable the low
-income group to own their own homes. Owned PPR houses are sold at RM 35,000.00 per
unit in Peninsular Malaysia and RM42,000 per unit in Sabah and Sarawak. (JPN PORTAL,
People's Housing Program)
Apart from the People's Housing Program (PPR), the government also introduced
the Hardcore Poor People Housing Project (PPRT). PPRT is a program created by
the government to help repair the homes of Malaysians living in poor and destitute
rural areas. The Poorest People's Housing Project (PPRT) was inspired by the
former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and Minister of Finance, Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim in 1995. However, PPRT has expanded its scope by helping those who do
not have their own house but have land. (Hardcore Poor People's Housing Project
Portal)
In urban areas such as Kuala Lumpur, the People's Housing Program was
introduced by building flats in squatter areas. Squatters were relocated to certain
areas while waiting for the PPR to be completed. In 2001, the government allocated
RM 797 million for the People's Housing Project to be implemented by the National
Housing Department. Of that amount, RM 634.8 million is to continue the PPR
project. As a result the number of squatter households has decreased significantly
from 571,261 households in 1999 to only 52,503 in June 2018 showing a reduction
of 91% during the period. The success of the PPR and low -cost housing programs
by private developers is an important turning point in the country’s housing history
where it not only helps the country’s economic development during the economic
crisis, but also an effective strategy in tackling squatter problems. The approach
implemented indirectly prevents the existence of new squatter settlements in urban
areas as well as being able to improve the quality of life of the people as a whole.
(National Housing Policy (DPN), 2018-2025)
4.1 Objective of PPR
The objective of the People's Housing Program (PPR) is only one, which is to
improve the quality of life of hardcore poor and poor families as well as by building or
repairing houses to provide a safer and more comfortable place to live as the basis
for the growth of a family. This can be evidenced when there is a reduction of 91% in
the number of squatter households in 2018. The approach implemented indirectly
prevents the existence of new squatter settlements in urban areas and is able to
improve the quality of life of the people as a whole. (Projek Perumahan Rakyat
Miskin Tegar Portal)
4.2 Issues and Challenges of PPR
Like other programs under the National Housing Policy, the PPR project also
experienced construction delays. This issue was voiced by residents in Klebang,
Melaka. A total of 150 Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) house applicants stated that
the houses purchased four years ago still showed no sign of completion in the near
future although according to the preliminary agreement, the project will be completed
in 2018. very much waiting for the PPR house to be ready to be inhabited. (Amir
Mamat, Metro Daily)
Other than that, development of PPR is facing the rising cost of construction.
This is also acknowledged by the government itself, the increase in construction
costs and various other factors will to some extent contribute to the increase in
house prices, needs to be addressed. Yet the government to continue to provide low
-cost housing to the less fortunate. Plus, the middle -income group or M40 is finding
it increasingly difficult to own a house having to be placed to live in a house that
should be reserved for the B40 low -income group. This is so due to the increase in
people's income and lifestyle causing the demand for affordable housing to continue
to increase. (National Housing Policy (DPN), 2018-2025)
