Barriers in Adopting Sustainable Affordable Housing (SAH) Development:
The insistence to have guidelines on Sustainable Affordable Housing (SAH) development has gained substantial courtesy in recent years due to the vast need for affordable houses and increasing awareness of environmental concerns especially in most developing countries. The affordable housing development in Malaysia has been progressively improving since the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (11th Malaysia Plan) commencement, which focuses on increasing the affordability and accessibility of housing within low and middle-income groups, especially in urban areas. However, in order to achieve proper urban development, affordable housing must also be sustainable.
Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze the barriers to adopting SAH from the perspectives of developers, householders, and Governments. The objective of this study also is to draft out the barrier indicators pertaining to SAH development. This extended literature review research applied the Content Analysis Method which analyzed 12 articles on the challenges of integrating affordable houses into sustainable houses by various authors in different countries and with diverse legislative practices.
The findings consist of six (6) main barriers and thirty-seven (37) challenges from the perspectives of the main participants (developers, householders, and the Governments) of SAH development. The result revealed that the financial, expertise and technology, education, knowledge and awareness, accessibility, land use planning, enforcement and initiatives, land assessment, and land cost are the main barriers to implementing SAH development.
The findings of this research will provide a comprehensive understanding of the limitations that hinder the widespread adaptation of SAH development initiatives. The future research will underscore the verification and validation of SAH development indicators from the main participants to initiate strategic planning on SAH developments. Ultimately, addressing the barriers will contribute to the realization and potential of sustainable affordable housing options for all.
Housing development is a necessity as humans need shelter to fulfill their basic needs according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Housing affordability has become major attention globally either in developing or developed countries. According to (Cheah Su Ling et. al, 2017) the key drivers of affordable housing concerns are the growth of income and openness to better job opportunities, especially in urban areas. The requirements of affordable housing are to be appropriate in quality and location and “not so costly”.
This is to ensure that the financial commitment to housing will not burden the house buyers, the quality of houses is satisfying, and having good access to necessary facilities and amenities. It was estimated that 330 Million urban households around the world were living in poor housing conditions and facing financial stress regarding housing mortgage and eligibility based on research carried out by the McKinsey Global Institute in 2014.
This scenario also similarly happens in Malaysia. According to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Report 2017, housing has become seriously unaffordable in Malaysia since 2016 due to certain circumstances. The rule of thumb for affordable housing is, that the housing financial commitment is not more than 30% of the household income. Recently, Malaysia’s affordable housing development has been continuously improving, but affordability alone is still not sufficient to achieve sustainable development.
The increasing awareness of conservation and protection of the environment has led to the idea of sustainable housing development. This is due to building and residential is also the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. This is consistent with (UN Habitat, 2016) that most of the cities in the world use more than 70% of their land for housing purposes which determines the layout and density of urbanization.
Therefore, this has led to the existence of a significant relationship between civilization and the environment that is influenced by housing activities. UN-Habitat (2012) asserts that home construction and maintenance use a significant number of natural resources and lead to waste, air, and water pollution. This emphasizes the requirement for appropriate rules and measures designed to increase the sustainability of building operations. While improving social, economic, and environmental conditions, a sustainable housing strategy may also increase people’s quality of life and provide a healthy environment.