KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — The Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) will carry out early intervention on any “sick” housing projects affected by rising construction costs.
Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming said improvements to policies and mechanisms under the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 (Act 118) will be implemented for this purpose, according to a report published in Berita Harian today.
“The government will continue to assess and implement appropriate measures to reduce the impact of rising construction costs in the housing sector.
“Among them are improvements to Act 118 to strengthen monitoring of high-risk and sick projects, as well as early intervention measures to ensure housing projects can continue on schedule and do not burden buyers,” he said in response to a question from Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli (PN-Dungun) yesterday.
He said the ministry will also continue to encourage the use of more productive and cost-efficient construction technologies such as the Industrialised Building System (IBS), Building Information Modelling (BIM) and other modern construction methods to reduce reliance on labour and improve long-term efficiency.
Nga said the Rahmah Cement Scheme will also help control construction material costs and support the development of affordable housing.
“The initiative offers cement at lower-than-market prices and has been expanded to affordable housing projects under the federal government, state governments and the private sector.
“This measure is expected to reduce construction cost pressures and support the provision of more affordable housing for the people,” he said.
He added that various home ownership initiatives such as the Skim Jaminan Kredit Perumahan (SJKP), Rent-to-Own (RTO) and affordable housing programmes will be strengthened to help lower- and middle-income groups own homes despite rising living costs.
