The Sarawak Government, through the Ministry of Public Health, Housing and Local Government (MPHLG), will be conducting a feasibility study regarding the viability of carrying out a housing voucher scheme.
This was revealed by its minister and Deputy Premier YB Dato Sri Prof Dr Sim Kui Hian in his winding up speech at the Third Meeting of the First Session of the 19th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting on 29 November 2022.
He added that the study, which was given an allocation of RM1 million, will begin in 2023 and is expected to be completed within a year.
The initiative is also in line with the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030), specifically concerning social services (one of the strategy’s economic sectors) that aim “to provide a high living standard, healthy and inclusive society with affordable and innovative service delivery for Sarawakians.”
A catalytic initiative under this sector is the implementation of a housing voucher programme for first-time home buyers, which in turn can potentially be an addition to existing housing schemes provided by the Government.
“Issues relating to housing affordability are closely linked to economic and social factors. Rising urban migration, increasing house prices and high cost of living, the younger working households struggle to own houses in urban areas,” said Dato Sri Prof Dr Sim.
Relatively, he provided updates on affordable housing projects and programmes implemented in Sarawak through agencies under MPHLG (Table 1). Housing, he explained, is under the concurrent list – meaning it is funded by both the Sarawak Government and Federal Government:
