5 Issues of Low-Cost Apartments that Needs Immediate Action

Low-cost apartments are designed to provide affordable housing options but often result in inadequate living conditions and numerous challenges for the residents. The government and relevant authorities must take proactive steps to address these issues and ensure that these housing projects meet the necessary standards for safety, quality of life, and sustainable urban development.

Low-cost high-rise housing in Malaysia is such as PR1MA, Selangorku, PPR and a few more. Among these low-cost high-rise projects in Malaysia, PPR projects need to further inspection to ensure the comfort of the residents.

The issues we will be discussing should be taken into account by the government, developers, and other authorities to ensure the needs of the residents are fulfilled to improve residents’ quality of life.

Quality of construction

The cost-cutting measure was implemented due to the lack of financial support. This leads to the sub-standard construction quality and a lack of proper maintenance. The heartbreaking news of the Turkey earthquake is a good example of why the government and developers should consider an alternative solution to provide quality construction with an optimized budget. Although earthquakes in Malaysia are rare, mother nature has been changing over the past few years. It is always better to prepare for crises, rather than not be prepared when crises happen.

Lack of Amenities

Amenities play an important role in improving the quality of residents’ life. Government clinics, recreational areas and proper ventilation can be great additions to the apartment. According to this survey gathered from this research, the satisfaction of facilities from PPR residents is low. This indicates the surrounding amenities do not fulfil residents’ requirements.

Lack of Amenities

Condominiums and apartments tend to have security guards, security posts and other safety measures. Unfortunately, certain low-cost high rise especially PPR do not have these benefits. Without proper security, the chances of burglary are higher. This could affect residents’ mental and physical health if crimes such as burglary often occurred. Residents will be constantly worried about their belongings and there’s a chance of getting hurt during a burglary. A home should be a sacred space for a person to feel safe and secure.

Social Problems

Low-cost apartments tend to have unused open spaces such as the staircase, rooftops and abandoned units. Since there are no security guards, these spaces became drug dens or places for teens to hang out with no guardians. This could cause major issues such as drug abuse, alcohol abuse, vandalism and other crimes we prefer not to speak of. It is important to block the entrance of the rooftop and abandoned units to prevent certain social problems.

Poor Accessibility

Due to land scarcity, low-cost apartments are built in areas that are not as infrastructurally developed in terms of transport connectivity, particularly when it comes to rail transit. Residents will have difficulty travelling around especially to work. It can be demotivating for certain residents to work and lead them to employment issues.

However, according to this research from the IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, it stated the top 3 issues low-cost highrise projects’ residents faced are lift maintenance, lift size, and the number of lifts. The following problems they would like to address are the houseman’s workmanship, plumping system, design of the house, and construction material.

To sum up, the issues surrounding low-cost apartments in Malaysia are complex and far-reaching and require a multi-faceted approach to address. While the concept of low-cost housing is important for providing affordable living options, it is equally important to ensure that these projects meet the necessary standards for safety, quality of life, and sustainable urban development.

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