Delay mitigation in the Malaysian housing industry: a structural equation modelling approach

Housing is a major issue for every nation because it is a basic need for every citizen. Housing is viewed from different perspectives, such as investment, social and economic. Among the issues related to housing include whether state/government or the market should play a primary role in housing provision. The government in some countries plays an active role in addressing housing problems, as it can be used as a political weapon in determining which party will run the country. Hence, the failure to overcome housing problems could lead to political catastrophe. Most research agrees that there are several common problems inherently associated with the housing issue. As identified by Bourne (1981), the most probable reason is that housing is a real physical artefact. Despite its visibility and usage as a shelter in our daily lives, it is immensely diverse, complex and closely interrelated with its social-economic, political and neighbourhood environment. Urbanisation and industrialisation brought about the housing dilemma as the process involved the migration of local rural or foreign migrants to urbanised areas for better opportunities. The broken linkage between the demand for housing and supply has worsened the scenario due to the insufficient supply of housing and high house prices (Aminah and Azimah, 2004)