NLC Reform Could Unlock Waqf Land Worth Billions For Housing – Idzham
JOHOR BAHRU, Sept 14 (Bernama) – Billions of ringgit worth of underutilised waqf land in Malaysia could be tapped for affordable housing if a clear legal framework is established to facilitate long-term development without transferring ownership of the land, according to real estate practitioner Datuk Idzham Mohd Hashim.
He said the National Land Code should be amended to create a clear and standardised framework for long-term registered leases on waqf land, allowing State Islamic Religious Councils (MAIN) to retain ownership in perpetuity.
Idzham, who is also the president and chief executive officer of Iskandar Investment Bhd (IIB), said such a framework should also provide legal certainty for developers, homebuyers and financial institutions involved in waqf development.
“The ownership of the land can and should remain with MAIN in perpetuity, as Islamic endowment law requires,” he said in an article shared with Bernama.
He said Malaysia has an estimated 30,000 hectares of waqf land, with previous research conservatively valuing the holdings at RM4 billion based on 2015 figures.
Citing data from the Department of Awqaf, Zakat and Hajj (JAWHAR), he said 3,018 of 18,402 registered waqf lots nationwide remained unproductive or underdeveloped as of July 2023, while broader estimates placed undeveloped waqf land area at up to 87 per cent of the total.
Idzham said the issue was particularly significant amid growing housing affordability challenges, with land acquisition remaining one of the biggest costs in property development.
He said the main obstacle was not the principle of waqf itself, but the absence of a clear mechanism that separates perpetual land ownership from the economic rights to develop, occupy and finance projects on the land.
Under the proposed approach, MAIN would continue to own the land while developers could undertake projects through long-term registered leases, without alienating the underlying waqf asset.
For Waqf Am, or land dedicated for general charitable and public purposes, he said the model could support affordable housing because developers would not need to acquire the land at prevailing market prices.
He said this could allow housing prices to better reflect construction and development costs, while MAIN could generate long-term income from lease premiums for community and social programmes.
For Waqf Khas, which is dedicated for specific religious, charitable or community purposes, he said mixed-use developments involving residential and commercial components could generate income to support facilities such as mosques and schools.
Idzham said similar long-term lease structures over master-held land were already operating in parts of Malaysia, including Johor, where registered leasehold interests are granted to end-buyers while ownership of the underlying land remains with the master landowner.
He also cited a Court of Appeal decision in June 2025 which affirmed the validity of such arrangements under existing Malaysian land and strata laws, saying this provided a legal foundation that could be adapted for waqf development.
Idzham emphasised that a nationally standardised waqf lease framework could unlock the economic and social value of idle land while preserving its perpetual status, adding that Malaysia already has the land, demand and legal precedent needed to make such development possible.
– BERNAMA