Data from Dewan Rakyat: 7 of 10 households achieve home ownership

“Data from Dewan Rakyat” is Newsgraphy’s flagship data journalism series that transforms complex parliamentary data into accessible insights for the Malaysian public, making legislative information more transparent and comprehensible to citizens.

The content below is republished with the permission from Newsgraphy.

In a written parliamentary reply, the Housing and Local Government Ministry said Malaysia’s home ownership rate has reached 76.5 percent (6.04 million households), according to the Statistics Department’s 2022 Basic Amenities Survey Report.

This means that out of every 10 households in the country, at least seven own their homes; the remaining 23.5 percent (1.86 million) solve their housing needs through renting or living in quarters.

Newsgraphy conducted further analysis in the report to find out home ownership rates across different income levels, revealing that B40 and M40 households nationwide have a home ownership rate of 74 percent, but there are regional disparities in housing accessibility.

For instance, in the most economically developed state of Selangor, the home ownership rate for M40 households is 71 percent, while only 55 percent of B40 households own their homes; whereas in Kuala Lumpur, less than 40 percent of B40 households own homes.

In Putrajaya, most B40 and M40 households reside in quarters. This unique housing pattern reflects the federal administrative centre’s demographic composition, which is predominantly civil servants working in the numerous government facilities located there.

To address home ownership issues among B40 families, the government launched the “Rent-to-Own” (RTO) scheme in 2017.

This targets low-income groups who were allocated public housing and who were unable to secure bank loans.

“This scheme allows B40 households to rent homes for a specific period, after which they can choose whether to purchase the property,” the ministry said in the written reply.

There are 19 public housing projects implementing the RTO scheme nationwide, covering 7,234 units. As of Dec 31, 2024, a total of 6,362 households have been allocated housing units under this scheme, located in Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, and Kuala Lumpur.

“The government intends to improve and expand the RTO scheme and is currently in discussions with state governments, financial institutions, and other stakeholders to ensure more low-income households can own affordable and quality housing,” said the ministry.

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