Preliminary Housing Continuum Model Framework for Young Households in Greater Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

Owning a house had been the standard for adults until property prices increased, particularly in urban regions. The price increase led to homeownership becoming a pipe dream for most people. Young households (YH) that intend to purchase a house are subject to social and economic challenges, including a housing policy gap such as devoting attention solely to low-income earners and overlooking the middle-income demographic. The study objectives were to examine housing affordability issues among YH in Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL) and to review the housing continuum model (HCM) globally. The study data were collected through questionnaire surveys of 323 randomly sampled respondents aged 20–39 years living in GKL. Resultantly, rising housing prices, lower household income, and limited housing choices contributed to YH affordability issues. Furthermore, homeless shelters, social or public housing, affordable housing, rental housing, and private housing were critical HCM components. Based on the findings, the researchers proposed a preliminary HCM framework that can be used to inform YH of available options in the housing market. Moreover, the framework can be used to aid the mitigation of housing affordability problems faced by GKL YH by addressing these issues holistically via framing the components of available houses.