Housing Needs in Malaysia

"Housing is an important component of the economy where it has been the governmentís policy to place a roof over the head of every citizen. Past Malaysia Plans have attempted to plan for the realization of this policy. Hence, an accurate projection of housing needs is imperative. Although projections were made under each Malaysia Plan, the projections did not reflect the actual needs. The mismatch of the housing needs provided by the government and the local needs has been identified as the main problem of the nationís housing development. This paper investigates the affordability, adequacy and suitability factors, which is viewed as an attribute of housing needs. Specific objectives of the research are to review the effectiveness of existing housing needs model applied in determining housing requirement in Malaysia and to propose a workable model for an accurate projection of housing needs. The research population and samples are property developers and house buyers which are determined using area and random sampling. Data from the three areas; Johor Bahru, Klang Valley and Pulau Pinang are gathered from the questionnaires and interview session. The data are analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical method. The outcome of this research is a workable model that is able to overcome the deficiencies of the existing model as well as has the ability to measure the current and future housing needs accurately.""