Share:


Investigating the influence of homebuyers’ sociodemographic factors on preferences of sustainable affordable housing

    Li Xuan Lai Affiliation
    ; Phui Fung Wong Affiliation
    ; Felicia Yan Yan Yong Affiliation

Abstract

Low- and middle-income groups face difficulties in homeownership because of the urbanisation and rising living standards, in which they rely heavily on the government’s housing provision. Yet, affordable housing provided in Malaysia has been repeatedly criticised as it is not up to homebuyers’ expectations and is not supported to reach sustainable goals. Hence, this research aims to investigate the influence of the sociodemographic background of the homebuyers on their preferences for sustainable affordable housing in Malaysia. The questionnaire was designed and responses were obtained from 316 low- and middle-income homebuyers. Spearman rank correlation and ordinal regression were used to investigate the association between homebuyers’ sociodemographic characteristics and their preference for sustainable affordable housing. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that gender, generation, marital status and monthly income were significantly correlated with sustainability criteria. The ordinal regression model reflected that stronger preferences for sustainable affordable housing were shown among female homebuyers, Gen Y and Baby Boomer homebuyers and married ones. The research findings close the gap between users (homebuyers) and the providers (developer/government) in the provision of affordable housing. Developers and the local authorities can provide sustainable affordable housing solutions that suit the needs of different homebuyers.

Keyword : affordable housing, sustainability, sustainable affordable housing, homebuyers’ preferences, sociodemographic, housing affordability

How to Cite
Lai, L. X., Wong, P. F., & Yong, F. Y. Y. (2023). Investigating the influence of homebuyers’ sociodemographic factors on preferences of sustainable affordable housing. International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 27(4), 261–274. https://doi.org/10.3846/ijspm.2023.20200
Published in Issue
Nov 13, 2023
Abstract Views
489
PDF Downloads
343
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Abdul Hamid, S., Hidayah Syed Jamaludin, S., & Mahayuddin, S. (2018). Achieving sustainable affordable housing scheme from the perspective of multi eco-system. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 429, 012029. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/429/1/012029

Abdullah, M., Ali, N., Javid, M., Dias, C., & Campisi, T. (2021). Public transport versus solo travel mode choices during the COVID-19 pandemic: self-reported evidence from a developing country. Transportation Engineering, 5, 100078. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.treng.2021.100078

Abdul-Rahman, H., Wang, C., Wood, L., & Khoo, Y. (2014). Defects in affordable housing projects in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 28(2), 272–285. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0000413

Adabre, M., & Chan, A. (2020). Towards a sustainability assessment model for affordable housing projects: the perspective of professionals in Ghana. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 27(9), 2523–2551. https://doi.org/10.1108/ecam-08-2019-0432

Aditjandra, P., Cao, X., & Mulley, C. (2012). Understanding neighbourhood design impact on travel behaviour: an application of structural equations model to a British metropolitan data. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 46(1), 22–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2011.09.001

Afiqah, N., Kamarul Bahrin, N., & Rozman, A. (2020). Housing affordability preferences for ‘Rumah Selangorku’ scheme. Journal of Sustainable Technology and Applied Science, 1(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.36040/jstas.v1i2.3019

Aloul, S., Naffa, R., & Mansour, M., (2018). Gender in public transportation: a perspective of women users of public transportation. https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/amman/15221.pdf

AlQahtany, A. (2020). People’s perceptions of sustainable housing in developing countries: the case of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Housing, Care and Support, 23(3/4), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.1108/hcs-05-2020-0008

Aminnuddin, N. (2020). Ethnic differences and predictors of racial and religious discriminations among Malaysian Malays and Chinese. Cogent Psychology, 7(1), 1766737. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2020.1766737

Bakhtyar, B., Zaharim, A., Sopian, K., Saadatian, O., & Abdulateef, J. (2012). Affordable quality housing for urban low income earners in Malaysia. SSRN Electronic Journal, 60–73. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2184629

Bernama. (2021). Analysis: mental health issues growing more serious. The Star. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2021/07/02/analysis-mental-health-issues-growing-more-serious

Bilal, M., Meera, A., & Abdul Razak, D. (2019). Issues and challenges in contemporary affordable public housing schemes in Malaysia. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 12(6), 1004–1027. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-11-2018-0091

Birruntha, S. (2022). KPKT focuses on affordable quality housing. The Malaysian Reserve. https://themalaysianreserve.com/2022/01/24/kpkt-focuses-on-affordable-quality-housing/

Boumeester, H. J. (2011). Traditional housing demand research. In The measurement and analysis of housing preference and choice (pp. 27–55). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8894-9_2

Brundtland, G. H. (1987). Report of the World Commission on environment and development: “our common future”. UN.

Bujang, A., Jiram, W., Zarin, H., & Anuar, F. (2015). Measuring the Gen Y housing affordability problem. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, 6(1), 22–26. https://doi.org/10.7763/ijtef.2015.v6.435

Chan, A. P., & Adabre, M. A. (2019). Bridging the gap between sustainable housing and affordable housing: the required critical success criteria (CSC). Building and Environment, 151, 112–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.01.029

Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2022). The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022. United Nations Publications.

Department of Statistics Malaysia. (2020). Household Income & Basic Amenities Survey Report 2019. Putrajaya.

Department of Statistics Malaysia. (2021). Malaysia @ a Glance. Putrajaya.

Department of Statistics Malaysia. (2022, January). Key statistics of labour force in Malaysia. Putrajaya.

Delgado, A., & De Troyer, F. (2017). Housing preferences for affordable social housing projects in Guayaquil, Ecuador. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 10(1), 112–139. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-02-2016-0017

Economic Planning Unit. (2015). Eleventh Malaysia plan 2016-2020. The Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department.

Enterprise Community Partners. (2014). Impact of affordable housing on families and communities: a review of the evidence base. https://homeforallsmc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Impact-of-Affordable-Housing-on-Families-and-Communities.pdf

Ezennia, I., & Hoskara, S. (2019). Exploring the severity of factors influencing sustainable affordable housing choice: evidence from Abuja, Nigeria. Sustainability, 11(20), 5792. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205792

Fakere, A. A., & Ayoola, H. A. (2018). Socioeconomic characteristics and community participation in infrastructure provision in Akure, Nigeria. Cogent Social Sciences, 4(1), 1437013. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2018.1437013

Galster, G., & Lee, K. (2020). Introduction to the special issue of the Global crisis in housing affordability. International Journal of Urban Sciences, 25(sup1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/12265934.2020.1847433

Gan, X., Zuo, J., Wu, P., Wang, J., Chang, R., & Wen, T. (2017). How affordable housing becomes more sustainable? A stakeholder study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162, 427–437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.06.048

Ghazali, N., Marzukhi, M., & Ling, O. (2021). Urban low-cost housing effect mental health. Planning Malaysia, 19(4), 244–256. https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v19i18.1049

Golubchikov, O., & Badyina, A. (2012). Sustainable housing for sustainable cities: a policy framework for developing countries. UN-Habitat.

Grinstein-Weiss, M., Charles, P., Guo, S., Manturuk, K., & Key, C. (2011). The effect of marital status on home ownership among low-income households. Social Service Review, 85(3), 475–503. https://doi.org/10.1086/662166

Hassan, M., Ahmad, N., & Hashim, A. (2021). Factors influencing housing purchase decision. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(7), 429–443. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v11-i7/10295

Hoxha, V., & Zeqiraj, E. (2019). The impact of Generation Z in the intention to purchase real estate in Kosovo. Property Management, 38(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm-12-2018-0060

Ibrahim, I. A. (2020). Sustainable housing development: role and significance of satisfaction aspect. City, Territory and Architecture, 7(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40410-020-00130-x

Jabatan Perumahan Negara. (2019). Dasar Perumahan Mampu Milik Negara. Putrajaya.

Kam, K., Lim, A., Al-Obaidi, K., & Lim, T. (2018). Evaluating housing needs and preferences of Generation Y in Malaysia. Planning Practice & Research, 33(2), 172–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/02697459.2018.1427413

Kamaruzzaman, S., & Azmal, A. (2019). Evaluation of occupants’ well-being and perception towards indoor environmental quality in Malaysia affordable housing. Journal of Facilities Management, 17(1), 90–106. https://doi.org/10.1108/jfm-11-2017-0070

Khan, R. A. J., Thaheem, M. J., & Ali, T. H. (2020). Are Pakistani homebuyers ready to adopt sustainable housing? An insight into their willingness to pay. Energy Policy, 143, 111598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111598

Kim, J., & Yoo, S. (2021). Perceived health problems of young single-person households in housing poverty living in Seoul, South Korea: a qualitative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(3), 1067. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031067

Kim, M., Cho, M., & Jun, H. (2020). Developing design solutions for smart homes through user-centered scenarios. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 335. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00335

Koh, F., & Mustapa, F. (2021). Smart living implementation in Malaysia: a preliminary overview. Journal of Information System and Technology Management, 6(24), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.35631/jistm.624008

Latimaha, R., Bahari, Z., & Ismail, N. (2019). Middle income household spending patterns on housing in Malaysian state capital cities: where does all the money go? Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, 53(2), 55–65. https://doi.org/10.17576/jem-2019-5302-5

Li, J., Auchincloss, A., Rodriguez, D., Moore, K., Diez Roux, A., & Sánchez, B. (2019). Determinants of residential preferences related to built and social environments and concordance between neighborhood characteristics and preferences. Journal of Urban Health, 97(1), 62–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-019-00397-7

Li, Q., Long, R., & Chen, H. (2018). Differences and influencing factors for Chinese urban resident willingness to pay for green housings: evidence from five first-tier cities in China. Applied Energy, 229, 299–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.07.118

Lindstrom, C. T. (2019). The relationship between housing affordability and demographic factors: case study for the Atlanta Beltline [Master’s thesis, Georgia Southern University]. Electronic Theses and Dissertations. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3083&context=etd

Liu, J., & Ong, H. (2021). Can Malaysia’s national affordable housing policy guarantee housing affordability of low-income households? Sustainability, 13(16), 8841. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168841

Ma, L. L. (2018, May). A brief analysis of the relationship between housing, mental health and wellbeing under the eco-city context. In 4th Annual International Conference on Management, Economics and Social Development (ICMESD 2018) (pp. 930–935). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/icmesd-18.2018.159

Majid, R., Said, R., & Daud, M. (2012). The impact of buyers’ demography on property purchasing. Journal of Surveying, Construction & Property, 3(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.22452/jscp.vol3no2.1

Mat Lazim, M. S. (2020). Evolution of migration for urban and rural. Department of Statistics Malaysia. https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/uploads/files/6_Newsletter/Newsletter%202020/DOSM_BPPD_4-2020_Series-62.pdf

Md. Yassin, A., Masrom, M., & Yahya, M. (2021). Measuring sustainability elements in PR1MA affordable housing. International Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Technology, 12(5), 286–293. https://doi.org/10.30880/ijscet.2021.12.05.029

Moghayedi, A., Awuzie, B., Omotayo, T., Le Jeune, K., Massyn, M., Ekpo, C. O., Braune, M., & Byron, P. (2021). A critical success factor framework for implementing sustainable innovative and affordable housing: a systematic review and bibliometric analysis. Buildings, 11(8), 317. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11080317

Moghimi, V., Jusan, M., & Izadpanahi, P. (2016). Iranian household values and perception with respect to housing attributes. Habitat International, 56, 74–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2016.04.008

Mohamad, Z., Yang, F., Charles Ramendran, S., Rehman, M., Nee, A., & Yin, Y. (2020). Embedding eco-friendly and smart technology features in affordable housing for community happiness in Malaysia. Geojournal, 87(1), 167–181. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10247-8

Mridha, M. (2020). The effect of age, gender and marital status on residential satisfaction. Local Environment, 25(8), 540–558. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2020.1801615

Musa, M. K., Rahman, M. A. A., Azman, M. N. A., Lip, R., & Hashim, N. (2021, July). Measuring residents’ satisfaction on quality of low-cost affordable housing projects: an empirical investigation. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2347, No. 1, p. 020062). AIP Publishing LLC. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0052147

Myeda, N. E., Kamaruzzaman, S. N., Zaid, S. M., & Fong, Y. P. (2016). Sustainable housing: demographic analysis of customers’ demands in Klang Valley. Journal of Building Performance, 7(1), 116–124.

National Property Information Centre. (2018). Stock and status residential Q1 2018. http://napic.jpph.gov.my/portal

National Property Information Centre. (2021). Property market status H1 2021. http://napic.jpph.gov.my/portal

O’Connell, A. (2006). Logistic regression models for ordinal response variables. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412984812

Olanrewaju, A., & Tan, S. (2018). An exploration into design criteria for affordable housing in Malaysia. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 16(3), 360–384. https://doi.org/10.1108/jedt-12-2017-0125

Olanrewaju, A., & Wong, H. (2019). Evaluation of the requirements of first time buyers in the purchase of affordable housing in Malaysia. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 35(1), 309–333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-019-09681-z

Olanrewaju, A., & Woon, T. C. (2017). An exploration of determinants of affordable housing choice. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 10(5), 703–723. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-11-2016-0074

Olanrewaju, A., Tan, S., & Abdul-Aziz, A. (2018). Housing providers’ insights on the benefits of sustainable affordable housing. Sustainable Development, 26(6), 847–858. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1854

Olanrewaju, A., Tan, Y., & Soh, S. (2022). Defect characterisations in the Malaysian affordable housing. International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, 40(4), 539–568. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijbpa-11-2018-0095

Oni-Jimoh, T., & Liyanage, C. (2018). Urbanization and meeting the need for affordable housing in Nigeria. In A. Almusaed & A. Almssad (Eds.), Housing. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.78576

Opoku, R., & Abdul-Muhmin, A. (2010). Housing preferences and attribute importance among low-income consumers in Saudi Arabia. Habitat International, 34(2), 219–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2009.09.006

Oyebanji, A., Liyanage, C., & Akintoye, A. (2017). Critical success factors (CSFs) for achieving sustainable social housing (SSH). International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 6(1), 216–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsbe.2017.03.006

Park, J., Heo, Y., Oh, U., & Yoon, S. (2015). Changes in physical and mental health as a function of substandard housing conditions and unaffordable housing. Korean Journal of Social Welfare, 67(2), 137–159. https://doi.org/10.20970/kasw.2015.67.2.006

Plouin, M. (2019, May). Affordable housing and homelessness: challenges across the OECD. In UN expert group meeting on affordable housing and social protection systems for all to address homelessness. OECD.

Saidu, A., & Yeom, C. (2020). Success criteria evaluation for a sustainable and affordable housing model: a case for improving household welfare in Nigeria cities. Sustainability, 12(2), 656. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020656

Saliu, I., & Akiomon, E. (2022). Sustainable housing in developing countries: a reality or a mirage. In I. Saliu & E. Akiomon (Eds.), Sustainable housing. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99060

Salleh, N., Yusof, N., Johari, N., & Talib, Y. (2014). Identifying variables influencing tenant affordability to pay rent in Ipoh city council public housing. E3S Web of Conferences, 3, 01006. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20140301006

Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2010). Research methods for business: a skill building approach (5th ed.). John Wiley and Sons.

Shi, X. (2022). Environmental health perspectives for low-and middle-income countries. Global Health Journal, 6(1), 35–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.glohj.2022.01.003

Soon, J., & Ahmad, S. (2015). Willingly or grudgingly? A meta-analysis on the willingness-to-pay for renewable energy use. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 44, 877–887. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.01.041

Sreen, N., Purbey, S., & Sadarangani, P. (2018). Impact of culture, behavior and gender on green purchase intention. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 41, 177–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.12.002

Syed Jamaludin, S. Z., Mahayuddin, S. A., & Hamid, S. H. (2018). Challenges of integrating affordable and sustainable housing in Malaysia. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 140, 012001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/140/1/012001

Tan, T. (2012). Housing satisfaction in medium- and high-cost housing: the case of Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Habitat International, 36(1), 108–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2011.06.003

The City & Country Team. (2022). Cover story: prioritising sustainability and liveability. The Edge Markets. https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/cover-story-prioritising-sustainability-and-liveability

Tung, E., Cagney, K., Peek, M., & Chin, M. (2017). Spatial context and health inequity: reconfiguring race, place, and poverty. Journal of Urban Health, 94(6), 757–763. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0210-x

Tung, L., & Comeau, J. (2014). Demographic transformation in defining Malaysian generations: the seekers (pencari), the builders (pembina), the developers (pemaju), and Generation Z (Generasi Z). International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 4(4), 383–403. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v4-i4/809

UN-Habitat. (2011). Affordable land and housing in Asia. United Nations Human Settlements Programme. https://unhabitat.org/affordable-land-and-housing-in-asia-2

UNICEF. (2020, August 24). Families on the Edge: low-income families need continued support to recover from the effects of COVID-19. https://www.unicef.org/malaysia/press-releases/families-edge-low-income-families-need-continued-support-recover-effects-covid-19

United Nations. (2022). The Sustainable Development Agenda. United Nations Sustainable Development. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/

Yap, J., Yong, P., & Skitmore, M. (2019). Analysing the desired quality of housing in the Klang Valley region, Malaysia. Pacific Rim Property Research Journal, 25(2), 125–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/14445921.2019.1626542

Zhang, L., Chen, L., Wu, Z., Zhang, S., & Song, H. (2018). Investigating young consumers’ purchasing intention of green housing in China. Sustainability, 10(4), 1044. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041044