Elective choice
10/10/2005 NST  By Datuk Francis Lee, Ipoh

THERE has been much discussion on the adoption of the "Build then Sell" concept, or the 10/90 variant, to resolve the woes confronting a small percentage of housebuyers.

In the course of this debate, due appreciation has not been accorded to the minister and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government for tightening the law governing housing development in December 2002, which was primarily focused to further protect the interest of buyers.

There is a great need to study the implications of the BTS concept closely from a national perspective and assess the implications for developers.

In one scenario, developers would either downsize their plans or depart the industry and mobilise their capital into more lucrative areas of investment. Effectively, the delivery of houses by the private sector will shrink.

There must be contingency provision for the public sector to augment the private sector’s shortfall of delivery, to ensure that the provision of affordable housing to all Malaysians is not compromised.

There is also a need to assess the possible impact of the BTS concept on the less developed States. With a national urbanisation rate of 66.9 per cent in 2005, the BTS concept will not favour housing development in the laggard states of Negri Sembilan, Perak, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang and Perlis.

In view of the higher financial risk in the development of areas of low demand, the provision of affordable housing and home ownership in rural areas will be similarly compromised.

The national and individual state agendas cannot be forsaken or compromised for the sake of a minority. The ultimate solution would be to allow the BTS concept and the SB concept to be an elective choice to both developers and buyers.