Though there has been increased efforts by the Malaysian Government and developers to provide affordable housing, the supply has yet to be sufficient to meet the demand.
Industrialised Building System (IBS)
But what is IBS and what does building with IBS mean to Malaysians?
To begin, IBS is also known as Pre-fabricated/Pre-fab Construction, which, these terms suggest, is to pre-fabricate the components required in constructing a building, either off site or on-site, usually in a controlled environment.
In simple terms, it is mass-producing the parts of a building and assembling them during construction- a little like Lego, but much more complicated, and certainly not as easy as a robot that builds and entire house in just 2 days.
IBS technology builds cheaper, faster and cleaner
The cost of construction largely affects the pricing of (new) properties. Hence, IBS offers benefits which can lower construction costs and consequentially, home prices.
Benefits of IBS:
- Reduce use of construction materials (e.g.: scaffolding, timber props).
- Reduce completion time of building(s) due to easier installation of pre-fabricated elements.
- Reduce number of site workers needed.
- Reduces construction waste and thus, cost of eliminating waste.
These benefits can cut down construction costs on part of the developer, enabling properties, especially homes, to be built with lower costs. Those savings can then be passed on to homebuyers.
Reasonably priced IBS-built homes
Only a handful of developers in Malaysia utilise IBS in constructing their properties. However, it has been proven that quality homes can be reasonably priced with the use of IBS, even offering a wide range of facilities. SP Setia is one such developer, with a number of reasonably priced landed and non-landed developments in Semenyih and Setia Alam.
SP Setia developments constructed using IBS:
Semenyih:
- Setia EcoHill
Setia Alam:
- Seri Baiduri
- Seri Intan
- Seri Kasturi
- Seri Mutiara
Click on the locations and properties to gain a comprehensive view of launch prices, current prices and transacted prices of the properties and neighbourhoods.
Encouraging the use of IBS to increase supply of affordable housing
The Real Estate & Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (REHDA) and the Malaysian government are in talks to provide added incentives to property developers who utilise IBS.
REHDA President, Datuk Seri FD Iskandar Mohamed Mansor, expressed the optimistic outlook that prices of homes can be lowered should the majority of developers adopt this system.
“We are looking at an economy of scale here, the more property developers participate, the higher the possibility of lowering the prices,” he said.
He also added that “The more incentives we have on tax, rebates on materials and others, then the pricing can definitely be cheaper.”
The 2016 Budget had also revealed an RM500 million IBS Promotion Fund, which is an effort to produce affordable and quality homes to Malaysians at a quicker rate.
“This will tremendously help developers build better quality homes at a faster rate resulting in higher volume of units to cater to the increasing demand for affordable homes,” says 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme (PR1MA) chief financial officer Datuk Hasleen Isnin in a report by the New Straits Times.
Conclusion
Cutting down on construction costs and time, IBS could potentially be the future of affordable housing in Malaysia. Adoption of this technology on a large scale will encourage even lower construction prices, resulting in the ability to build cheaper, quality homes at a faster rate.
What do you think of this technology? Could it really be the answer to the lack of affordable housing in Malaysia? Share your thoughts with us below and be rewarded!
(References: http://www.malaysiapropertynews.com.my/2016/09/rehda-in-talks-with-govt-over-incentives-for-developers-using-ibs-.htm, http://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/10/ibs-gets-boost-2016-budget)