To mitigate this problem, this research identified a total of 20 critical factors affecting sustainable affordable housing, housing preferences based on 7 different demographic factors, and 10 policy tactics to mitigate the affordable housing gap through a comprehensive literature review. Meanwhile, (1) crime rate, (2) housing price relative to income, and (3) housing quality were perceived as the top three fundamental housing preferences among respondents.
Background
This chapter discusses the background and problem definition of the affordability of sustainable housing in Malaysia. It is disturbing that housing affordability is likely to deteriorate around the world in 10 years and people will be forced to live in substandard and overcrowded accommodation conditions (Wetzstein, 2017), where Hong Kong is the ideal example of housing affordability.
Problem Statement
For this reason, the affordability of housing has a huge impact on family life decision, which has led to a setback in social development. Housing affordability also has implications for mental and physical health. 2020) who had researched housing affordability in Hong Kong.
Research Aim
Affordable housing is commonly researched and surveyed; However, studies on sustainable housing are limited in Malaysia. Therefore, it is important to bridge the gap between housing affordability and sustainability by finding out the criteria for sustainable housing affordability, which could be crucial interventions to provide insights to real estate developers, government agencies and architects to rely on these influential factors when building affordable housing.
Research Questions
Therefore, the employment rate in that area will fall, which slows down the country's economy. Furthermore, most studies on housing preferences have focused primarily on first-time buyers.
Research Objectives
Research Scope
Research Significance and Justification
Moreover, it is also beneficial for the government, developers and urban planners to guide future planning of sustainable affordable housing projects, and implement possible improvement actions to close the affordable housing gap.
Research Outline
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Literature Review
- Chapter 3: Research Methodology
- Chapter 4: Results and Discussion
- Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations
At the end of this chapter, a conclusion will be drawn to summarize the overall content. After collecting the data from the respondents, the results will be presented, analyzed and discussed in this chapter.
Summary
In order to improve a better understanding of this study, the definition of sustainable housing affordability is expanded in this chapter. Next, strategies to reduce the affordable housing gap will also be highlighted in the last part of this chapter.
Background
This literature search is conducted to determine the relevant theories and gaps in the existing research. In addition, most of this chapter has focused on the influential criteria of the affordability of sustainable housing and the relationship between demographic factors and housing preferences.
Influential Factors of Sustainable Housing Affordability .1 Housing Cost in relation to Income
- Rental Price in relation to Income
- Availability of Mortgage and Interest Rate
- Availability of Incentives
- Availability of Public Transport Services
- Availability of Waste Management
- Availability of Green Public Spaces
- Employment Opportunities Accessibility
- Medical Care Services Accessibility
- Education Services Accessibility
- Leisure Facilities Accessibility
- Shops Accessibility
- Quality Performance of Housing
- Maintainability of Housing
- Tenure Security
- Crime Rate
- Environmental Problems
- House Appearance
- Energy Efficiency of Housing
- Safety Performance of Housing
- Summary of Influential Factors of Sustainable Housing Affordability
Availability of mortgage and interest rate is one of the key factors for sustainable housing affordability (Mulliner, Smallbone and Maliene, 2013; . Chan and Adabre, 2019; Mulliner, Malys and Maliene, 2016; Adabre, et al., 2020). However, the availability of government incentives is one of the main influencing factors for sustainable housing affordability.
Relationship between Demographic Factors and Housing Preferences
- Housing Preferences based on Income Groups
- Housing Preferences based Generation Cohorts
- Housing Preferences based on Gender
- Housing Preferences based on Marital Status
- Housing Preferences based on Education Level
- Housing Preferences based on Employment Status
- Housing Preferences based on Presence of Children
- Summary of the Relationship between Demographic Factors and Housing Preferences
Similar to findings in a China study, housing preferences were found to be influenced by marital status (Ma and Chow, 2016). It is undeniable that housing preferences can be influenced by employment status (Wang and Li, 2006; Ma and Chow, 2016).
Strategic Measures to reduce the Affordable Housing Gap in Malaysia
- Centralise Initiatives of Affordable Housing
- Mitigate Rejection of Housing Loans from Bank
- Determine Eligibility of Homebuyers
- Reduce the Construction Cost for Affordable Housing
- Implementation of Cumulative Ruling Policy
- Financial Incentive for Construction of Affordable Housing In order to encourage the development for affordable housing projects,
- Implementation of Joint Task Force
- Enhance Financial Literacy of Homebuyers
- Provide Housing Schemes
- Enhance Rental Market to Rehabilitate Housing Balance Sheet Enhancing rental market can help in bridging the affordable housing gap
- Summary of Strategic Measures to Reduce the Affordable Housing Gap in Malaysia
In order to reduce the affordable housing gap, the government should start implementing a cumulative decision-making policy for developers to develop affordable housing (Ebekozien, Abdul-Aziz, & Jaafar, 2018a, 2020b, 2018b, 2020a). Implementation of a joint task force is one possible solution to reducing the affordable housing gap (Ebekozien, Abdul-Aziz, & Jaafar, 2018b, 2020a, 2018a). One potential strategy to mitigate the affordable housing gap is to improve the financial literacy of homebuyers (Cheah, Almeida, & Ho, 2017; Development and Platform, 2019).
Research Methodology
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is a research method consisting of statistical or empirical studies (Newman and Ridenour, 1998). Furthermore, Soon and Tan (2019) also indicate that this research method is widely used to measure the data in numerical and statistical form. Moreover, complex mathematical formulas known as statistical method will also be applied in this quantitative study (Kothari, 2004).
Sampling Design
Sampling Frames
The sampling frame is one of the important criteria to consider in generating a good sampling design. In this research, individuals staying within the Klang Valley area will be the sampling frame. This may be due to the fact that most Malaysians would prefer to migrate to the Klang Valley area as it is the most developed city in Malaysia.
Sampling Size
The sampling frame can be described as a list of all actual cases drawn from the selected population, which will be representative of the population (Taherdoost, 2016b). An appropriate sampling frame is required in research as inappropriate sampling frame may lead to biased representation. In addition, it is also assumed that a younger individual would normally face the ambiguities of the questions and therefore result in less reliable responses (Fuchs, 2005).
Sampling Methods
Data Collection Method
Quantitative Research: Questionnaire
Since this research will use a quantitative method, the questionnaire approach will be the ideal method to conduct this research. In general, the questions will be structured into closed or open-ended questions and can be asked by post, fax, face-to-face or any other means (Kothari, 2004). The first problem is that the questions of the questionnaire should be asked in the right way, while the second problem is the target audience.
Questionnaire Design
Pilot Test
Data Analysis Method
- Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Test
- Mean Ranking
- Kruskal-Wallis Test
- Factor Analysis
In general, means are used to examine the relationship between different variables in the research study. 𝑅𝑖 = sum of rows assigned to 𝑛1 values of the 𝑖. sample 𝑛𝑖 = number of observations in the 𝑖. random sample. In addition, it is undeniable that evaluating the data is a very important step before starting factor analysis.
Pilot Study
In this chapter, using graphs and tables, we revealed and evaluated the results of the data collected with the survey questionnaire. The evaluation and discussion of the generated results should correspond to the aims and objectives of the research stated in Chapter 1. Before the evaluation, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software is used to process, rearrange and tabulate the data using the techniques mentioned in the previous chapter.
Response Rate
Profile of Respondents
However, generation groups and income groups will be tested in this research as respondent groups. This is because demographic factors such as age and income are associated with substantial differences in their perspectives (Andrews and Herzog, 1986).
Reliability of Results
Mean Ranking
Influential Factors of Sustainable Housing Affordability
Meanwhile, according to M40 (RM4,850-10,960), the five most important components of sustainable housing affordability are: As a whole, the top five important influencing factors of sustainable housing affordability related to generational differences and income groups are shown below: In the same vein, Adabre and Chan (2018) also found that housing cost and rent are perceived as the main factors in terms of sustainable housing affordability.
Housing Preferences based on Demographic Factors
On the other hand, only baby boomers ranked "access to leisure facilities" as one of the top five preferences. In addition, the "environmental problem" is also listed as one of the five most important housing preferences among respondents. Last but not least, accessibility to shops with an average value of 4.010 was ranked as one of the five important housing preferences by respondents.
Strategic Measures to reduce Affordable Housing Gap
Aside from that, the second highest rank of strategies is to reduce construction costs for affordable housing with an overall median value of 3,783. As a whole, easing construction costs on affordable housing is a really effective measure to bridge the gap with affordable housing. Last but not least, having knowledge about financial matters is also crucial to solve the affordable housing gap.
Kruskal-Wallis Test
Influential Factors of Sustainable Housing Affordability
As shown in table 4.6, the B40 group ranked "accessibility to stores" as the sixth with the highest mean value of 4.163, which indicates that this factor has the largest significant differences compared to the other groups. Therefore, poor access to shops tends to add further financial burden to households, especially for low-income groups (B40). However, the M40 and H20 group are more willing to stay further compared to the B40 group as they can afford private vehicles (Zeng, Rees and Xiang, 2019).
Housing Preferences
On the other hand, there is also a noticeable difference for the variable "employment opportunities availability", where baby boomers perceived it as the least important housing preference. In contrast, they were more concerned about accessibility issues such as "accessibility of leisure facilities" and "medical. According to average ranking, only group H20 ranks "accessibility of public transport services" as 17th, while both groups B40 and M40 rank it as one of the ten most important housing preferences.
Strategic Measures to Reduce Affordable Housing Gap
Last but not least, the “availability of public transport services” is also found to be statistically different across the perception of group B40, M40 and H20. It is a remarkable fact that most high-income households can afford their private cars and are therefore less concerned about public transport. As for the income groups, group B40 perceived it as the most effective tactic among other income groups.
Factor Analysis
Analysis Considerations
Moreover, lifestyle is also influenced by the perceived values of households, while the value of housing can be determined by the location and aesthetics of the property (Beamish, Goss and Emmel, 2001). According to a Swedish study, home buyers are more attracted to the aesthetic aspects of housing (Opoku and Abdul-muhmin, 2010), which is similar to Chinese home buyers who favored an aesthetic appearance of housing (Wu, 2010). Therefore, ease of housing maintenance and safety performance of housing and neighborhoods are related to household satisfaction (Chan and Adabre, 2019).
Summary
Meanwhile, the top 5 most commonly agreed critical factors influencing sustainable housing affordability were: (1) House price relative to income; (2) Crime rate; (3) Availability of mortgage and interest rate; (4) Rent in relation to income; (5) Accessibility of employment. For the Kruskal-Wallis analysis, this showed that there were significant differences in perception across generational cohorts and income groups about the critical factors influencing the affordability of sustainable housing, housing preferences and strategic measures to narrow the affordable housing gap in Malaysia. In this chapter, the findings of the study are summarized and concluded on the basis of the aim and objectives mentioned earlier in chapter 1.
Conclusion
Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement regarding the influential factors for sustainable housing affordability. The results revealed that the top five critical factors for sustainable housing affordability were: (1) Housing price relative to income; (2) Crime rate; (3) Mortgage loan availability and interest rate; (4) Rent price relative to income; (5) Employment opportunities availability. In addition, the 20 critical factors affecting sustainable housing affordability were further examined through factor analysis, and five underlying factors were extracted.
Research Implications
Finally, yet importantly, the policy measures to reduce the housing affordability gap were examined in this study. Correspondingly, the analysis also discovered that there were massive differences in the perception of the strategic measures to reduce the gap in affordable housing among the respondent groups. As such, resource allocation in the development of sustainable affordable housing can be effectively planned.
Limitations of Research
In this regard, the government should advocate for more affordable housing projects and encourage developers to participate in the project. In addition, policy makers could use these identified critical factors to determine suitable locations for affordable housing projects. In the same way, the identified influencing factors could benefit future affordable housing applicants and potential homebuyers in their home buying decisions.
Recommendations
Bridging Sustainable Housing and Affordable Housing: The Necessary Critical Success Criteria (CSC). Factors affecting the demand for affordable housing among the middle income groups in Klang Valley Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to examine the critical factors affecting sustainable housing affordability in Malaysia, determine the relationship between demographic factors and housing preferences, and recommend strategic measures to reduce the housing affordability gap in Malaysia.
