Housing industry trapped in its own folly

What is made out to be good news is not going to be any good. Truth be told, the RM22 billion property sale which will be held come March 2019 will be another hot-air balloon fall.

The truth is, a dwelling averaging RM300,000 requires a monthly salary of RM6,000.

Now tell me how many of the graduates who truly need a roof over their heads can afford an RM300,000 property, given a monthly pay packet of under RM6,000.

The pundits will retort, "What about joint incomes?"

And all the freebies like no stamp fees or free air-conditioning and the like, or even a free satay party while you shop - will these really make any difference? Come to think of it, no!

We are saddled with a privatised building and construction industry that has held citizens at ransom for far too long with political agendas at work.

The fact that developers are raking huge profits and becoming tycoons and oligarchs is a testimony to them ripping off the wage-earning citizen, who has even been told to take on two jobs to make ends meet.

Our entire national housing policy, just like the education system, has failed. You need courage to agree. All else is a bluff.

We lost the path to a progressive society of providing affordable, price-controlled housing schemes, ensuring every adult starting a new family can have a roof for themselves without having to cut back on their quality of living.

It clearly shows that sales pitches have stampeded the government into ignoring its national duty and moral obligation to ensure that everyone has a roof over their heads.

And the runaway property market is today more of a self-enrichment penchant that disguises the temptations of collecting huge rentals within the quickest time and even having guaranteed earnings that will pay off the bank loan with extras in your pocket.

Believe me, you can have all kinds of megasale carnivals. You can make all kinds of political promises and seeming announcements of "affordable" housing.

The truth is, discrimination, greed, profiteering, and privatisation of the building and housing industry will never give every citizen the right to own a desirable, affordable home without suffering risks.  - Mkini