YOUTH HOMEOWNERSHIP READINESS AND ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT HOUSING PROGRAMMES IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

This study examines factors associated with homeownership readiness among young adults in selected urban areas of Malaysia, focusing on perceived homeownership barriers, financial capacity and access to government housing programmes. A quantitative cross-sectional research design was adopted using a structured questionnaire, with 551 valid responses collected. Descriptive statistics, reliability and factorability analysis, and multinomial logistic regression were employed. Among the 235 non-homeowners, only 21.7% intended to purchase a house within the next five years, while 57.4% had no intention and 20.9% were uncertain. Deposit requirements, location and house price emerged as the most prominent perceived barriers. The six barrier items demonstrated strong internal consistency and were consolidated into a Perceived Homeownership Barriers (PHB) construct. However, PHB was not statistically significant in explaining homeownership intention after controlling for age, monthly income and residential location. Monthly income showed significant associations, particularly between respondents with no purchase intention and those who were uncertain. Although awareness of government housing programmes was high at 86.2%, financial requirements, house prices, financing limitations and insufficient programme information remained prominent challenges. The findings highlight the importance of improving affordability, financing accessibility, information clarity and housing suitability to strengthen youth homeownership readiness.