Abandoned housing development : the Malaysian experience

Abstract

The issue of abandoned housing project is a matter of grave importance in Malaysia. This study sought to identify the causes leading to the problem from the view point of neo-classical and institutional economic analysis. Having that aim in mind, the research focused on reviewing available literature on the applicability of neo-classical and institutional theories in land and property market analysis, understanding the abandoned housing projects, identifying institution affecting housing development in Malaysia, examining the role of market signal, identifying the causes of abandoned housing projects and recommending suitable policies to prevent and solve the problem of abandoned projects. Extensive field work was done in order to collect primary data for the study. Surveys and semi-structured interviews were done using sample study areas which comprises of 6 different states in Malaysia. The respondents in this study are sample from the population of private developers. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the cause of abandonment of housing projects relates to institutional factors and failure to respond appropriately to market signal.