Ibn Taimiyyah’s Thought on Price Regulation in Housing Affordability

Abstract

Housing affordability concerns are particularly widespread in lower- and middle-income households in most major Malaysian cities, with most of them having trouble purchasing a home. This research therefore seeks to highlight certain related issues of housing affordability and discuss the concept of price regulation according to Ibn Taimiyyah. This study finds that one ofthe key challengesraisedisthesensitivityofhousing affordability which is caused by developers' tendency to boost price to maximize profit, resulting in increasing house prices. In terms of the price notion, Ibn Taimiyyah places a greater focus on a fair price, which indicates that the worth of an item's price is acceptableandproportionate withthecommodities suppliedata givenlocation andtime. IbnTaimiyyahdivides pricingintotwocategoriesnamelyinjusticeandelementaltyranny. Thus, price regulation is permitted in Islam for the benefit of the welfare state. The originality of this studyis ithighlightsseveralimportantissuesrelatingtopriceregulation inhousingaffordability that are not widely discussed among researchers. Therefore, it is hoped that it will be able to contribute to the ground knowledge and understanding of the importance of price regulation in housing affordability.