By Dave Platter, Global PR Director
IQI has compiled new data on access to affordable housing, revealing that Malaysia is a leader in ASEAN.
“With a population of 34 million and a per capita GDP of RM51,001, Malaysia has limited resources to allocate to affordable housing,” said Kashif Ansari, Co-Founder and Group CEO of IQI.
“Yet, it still allocates a significant amount. The 2024 budget alone dedicated RM2,850 million to this issue. Only three other ASEAN nations spent more, while three spent essentially nothing.”
Mr. Ansari explained that this level of spending is having a real impact. Malaysia is on track to achieve its 12th Malaysia Plan target of building 500,000 affordable homes by 2026. As of September 2024, more than 443,259 units had already been completed.
“In contrast to Malaysia,” he said, “some ASEAN nations have struggled to make progress on affordable housing. The Philippines set a target of constructing 1 million homes per year. However, the program has faced challenges due to insufficient funding, forcing the Philippine government to reduce its target by 2 million homes.”
“In Cambodia, the government has admirable goals for affordable housing. However, high land and construction costs have made it difficult to attract private-sector investment.”
“I can’t help concluding that Malaysia’s scalable and sustainable approach ensures steady progress on housing without overburdening government finances.”