Consumers Basic Right to Housing: The Role of Institutional Frameworks in Malaysia

There are eight consumers’ rights and one of them is the right to basic needs. The right to basic needs encompasses, inter alia the right to housing. There are several international documents which recognize the consumers’ right to housing. In upholding the consumers’ right to housing in Malaysia, the main institutional framework which is responsible in providing houses to the consumers is the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government. This Ministry is assisted by other institutions such as, Department of Housing, 1Malaysia PRIMA Corporation and National Housing Company Limited, together with private sectors. The objectives of this paper are to analyze the international documents which acknowledge the consumers’ right to housing, the roles of the institutional frameworks and the challenges they face in providing houses to the consumers. The findings of the research show that the consumers’ basic right to housing has been recognized internationally and various programs have been implemented by the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government and related institutions to uphold the consumers’ basic right to housing. However, there are challenges that need to be faced by the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government and related institutions, such as, the difficulty to fulfill the demand due to very limited affordable houses can be built at the urban areas. It is suggested that, apart from implementing affordable homes and citizen friendly homes programs, the Government needs to take other measures, such as, controlling the price of the houses and the insertion of stringent conditions in the National Housing Policy regarding the purchasing of the second and subsequent houses.