The Malaysian Insight

DESPITE a recent survey which found that Indians face the most discrimination when it comes to renting a home, landlords are more concerned about getting their dues on time, and not tenants’ race, said property owners and agents.

According to the latest YouGov Omnibus study, 20% of Chinese respondents claim to have faced discrimination when trying to rent versus 18% of Malay respondents. For Indians, a whopping 46% of respondents said they have faced discrimination.

However, a property leasing agent and several owners in the Klang Valley and Johor insist that their main concern remains a tenant’s ability to pay rent on time and not his or her ethnicity.

Property owner Chen Yao Zong said his only consideration and criterion for selecting a tenant is his occupation, as he prefers those with stable jobs.

“I do lay out conditions for my agent to lease the property but race has never been a factor,” Chen told The Malaysian Insight.

“I do not have any special restriction, as long as rent is paid on time, there is no issue. I don’t even need to see the potential tenants.”

Chen said he is aware of other property owners who refuse to lease to Indian tenants but said he has never considered a prospective tenant’s race before accepting them.

“So far, all my tenants are Malays. They pay rent on time, so I have nothing to worry about.”

Another property owner, Izat Samad, said as long as tenants are fine with paying the two-month security deposit and the first month’s rent upfront, he will lease his property to them.

“My property is in Johor, I am leasing it to a working-class Malay family from Singapore.

“Families are my tenants of choice as they will take care of the home and they are willing to pay the two-month security deposit and the first month’s rent,” he said.

“I do not mind Muslims or non-Muslims, even if they have pet dogs or cook pork in my property that’s not a problem. When they move out, I just need to cleanse the place.”

In the YouGov Omnibus survey, 60% of respondents also agreed that owners have absolute authority when leasing out property.

A total of 32% of respondents agreed that listing racial criterion makes leasing easier, while 37% agreed that any racial criterion constitutes racial discrimination.

Property agents Amber Realty chief executive Ng Hao Do said while rental discrimination exists, most landlords will usually single out foreign labourers and tenants from certain countries.

He said in all the years he had facilitated property purchases and leasing agreements, no owners had requested for specific races.

While Chinese owners prefer having Chinese tenants, it is purely for communication reasons, he said. These same owners, he added, usually never state that they do not want Malay or Indian tenants.

“Race was never their primary concern, I’ve facilitated many lease agreements between Chinese property owners and Indian tenants,” he said.

“We shouldn’t be generalising this issue. While there may be property owners who had had bad experiences, there are also many owners who had no problems getting along with their tenants.” – January 19, 2019.