‘My generation is becoming the homeless generation’

KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — Twenty-something media consultant Angela Ooi has all the right boxes ticked when it comes to the type of resident a world-class aspiring city like KL would like to attract.

She’s a university graduate and worked in respectable media company before striking out to start her own successful small business.

Yet, she finds herself unable to afford a reasonably liveable home that doesn’t require either taking out a back-breaking bank loan or moving out to a distant and bland housing estate that involves mind-numbing daily commutes.

“My generation is slowly becoming the homeless generation or the urban sprawl generation,” said Ooi, who has had to resort to renting and feeling very sore about the supply of reasonably priced but decent housing stock.

Her concerns are shared by many young adults who are the future economic drivers of the city.

Tuition business entrepreneur Amin, 29, said property prices are now “very expensive.”

“I am looking to buy but property prices are now beyond reach,” he said.

While some developers suggested that young adults move away from the city where property is more affordable, Amin said the resulting lengthy commutes would be a waste of time and impact productivity.

“Living far away is really inefficient,” he said. “Our public transport is not the best and you’ll have to deal with disruptions such as bad weather or the bus breaking down.”

Another accountant, Patrick, who has several years of working experience with multinationals recently bought a new 600-plus sq ft one-bedroom condominium in Kota Damansara, which is located about 15km from the city centre, for approximately RM350,000 or about RM550 per sq ft (psf).

As a local however, he said the risk of buying for him is reduced as he currently saves money by staying at home with his parents, adding that if things don’t work out with the condominium, he can still fall back on his parents while other young adults may not be so lucky.

And even though he has been able to buy a condo, Patrick still feels property has become overpriced.

“Salaries have not gone up much and cannot play catch up with property prices,” he said, noting that he’ll have to commit a significant chunk of his monthly income to servicing the housing loan.

Another twenty-something accountant with a multinational, who wanted to be known only as Rais, grew up in the expensive Damansara Heights neighbourhood but even then has balked at house prices.

“Either I buy a studio apartment which is now also not cheap and is like living out of a hotel room or spend my young adult life in a car driving long commutes,” he said. “That’s not the lifestyle I want.”

Rais said he and his friends are now taking a wait-and-see attitude towards buying a home due to the “ridiculous prices.”

At a recent Real Estate Developers Association (Rehda) media briefing, some developers suggested that young adults look beyond new houses to the secondary market of older homes which they can then fix up.

Ooi pointed out however that older homes in mature neighbourhoods are still costly before even adding on the cost of renovation.

“So, even if I manage to put a 10 per cent downpayment on a RM700,000 place, which is RM70,000, how about money for replacing old pipes and wiring and furniture?”

Ooi suggested that to help overcome the problem, the government could emulate some local governments in the US which offer financial incentives such as grants to those who move into older, dilapidated areas of the city as it will help with area gentrification.

“It’ll be nice if you live upstairs in a nice cleaned-up space just above a café, that serves good coffee and kaya toast, and down the street there’s a mom and pop grocery store, that conforms to cleanliness laws, so they don’t leave rotting veges in the street that will attract rats, and maybe set up a walking neighbourhood which is viable for outdoor activities on the street,” she said.

Rehda president Datuk Michael Yam said however that gentrification in Malaysia could be more efficiently done by developers.

National House Buyers Association secretary-general Chang Kim Loong said recently that the rapid inflation of assets has put house ownership beyond the reach of young adults.

Yam told The Malaysian Insider however that property prices were a complex issue and were now largely driven by escalating land costs and rising material costs on top of the social obligations that developers have to carry out, which are then built into the prices.

He also noted that some Western countries overcome affordability issues by reserving certain housing units for essential service providers such as nurses and firefighters.

For Ooi however, all she wants is a place in the city to call home, a dream currently now frustrated.