Budget 2023 wish list

This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 3, 2022 - October 9, 2022

As with every budget announcement, stakeholders in the property industry, such as developers and consultants, wait in anticipation of goodies from the government that will bolster the real estate market. For Budget 2023, it is no different and the wish list we have compiled reveals needs that, if not addressed, could slow down the growth trajectory of the property market. 

Some of the measures wished for include incentives for developing green buildings, strategies to deal with labour shortages and promotion of the Industrialised Building System (IBS) to help reduce costs. Read on to find out what else the industry is looking for in Budget 2023.

IOI Properties Group bhd CEO 
Datuk Voon Tin Yow

The nation’s transition to endemicity continues to steer us towards recovery in all sectors of the economy and we are grateful that the government is determined to expedite the recovery of the property industry. 

However, we continue to face challenges such as a property overhang and a financing environment that is not conducive to spur demand. Therefore, we hope that the government will provide full stamp duty exemption on MOT and 100% financing for government servants and first-time homebuyers in order to create a more conducive financing environment.

Meanwhile, we foresee that the industry will struggle to revert to pre-pandemic levels due to a lack of manpower and resources. Therefore, we hope the government will address the shortage of foreign labour by accelerating the process of migrant worker approvals.

In the light of the prevailing escalation of building material costs, we hope that tax incentives can be provided for key construction materials, especially for the construction of affordable homes, in order to maintain affordability. Apart from this, the introduction of tax incentives for green buildings will help mitigate the impact of climate change.