CENTRE OF STUDIES FOR ESTATE MANAGEMENT

DEPARTMENT OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT

STUDIES AND TECHNOLOGY
UITM SERI ISKANDAR, PERAK BRANCH

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Course Code : EWC661

Course Name : ENGLISH FOR REPORT WRITING

Class : AP 225 5B

Lecturer’s name: DR. NURUL KAMALIA BINTI YUSUF

NAME OF GROUP MEMBERS MATRIC NO

ADAM ISKANDAR BIN KAMARUL AZHAR 2021492478

NUR ANITH BINTI ROSLI 2021492056

NASUHA BINTI ABD MOKHSIN 2021483352

NURHANIS BINTI HASLI 2021832784

NAME OF GROUP LEADER

NUR IZZATI BINTI RIDZUAN 2021812566

RESEARCH PROPOSAL TITLE

EXPLORATION ON HOUSE RENTING EXPERIENCES AMONG OFF-CAMPUS STUDENTS

UiTM SERI ISKANDAR

DECLARATION : We declare that no part of this assignment has been copied from another person’s work
except where due acknowledgement is made in the text, and no part of this assignment has been written for me by
any other person except where such collaboration has been authorized by the lecturer concerned.

Group’s Leader Signature Date : 13/11/2022

A lecturer/tutor has and may exercise a right not to mark this assignment if the above declaration has not been
signed. If the above declaration is found to be false, no mark will be awarded for this assignment.
1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND

One of the essential needs of a person, a family, as well as any given society is housing
in all of its varied forms and this includes students who are residing whether in or outside
campus. Malaysia has enrolled High Education Institution (HEI) students more than 1.2 million
with more than 40,000 of them being new enrolments of international students (Ministry of
Education, 2022).

Accommodation is therefore a basic requirement for students, just like it is for everyone
else, and ensuring decent, safe, and cost - efficient housing will enable them to live happy lives,
achieve high standards of living, be intellectually innovative, and lead more fulfilling lives
(Abubakar Ghani et al., 2016). According to the Ministry of Higher Education report (2022), the
number of students enrolled in Malaysia increased quickly between the years 2010 and 2019,
but has subsequently declined in 2020 to 2021 due to the Coronavirus wave that had caused
the universities in Malaysia to shutdown, hence carrying out the Online Distance Learning
(ODL). The number had increased again when every time the HEIs accepted new students, a
significant portion of those students chose to become off-campus students as their institution
could not accommodate all of them to reside on campus. Because of this, the majority of
students, often the ones doing their degrees or final year, are forced to find alternative
accommodation by renting private housing in towns near their campuses due to the
considerable scarcity of the university’s on-campus accommodation.

This has shown that not all universities are able to provide adequate accommodations
for all students (Khozaei, 2012; Hilmy et al, 2013; Thuraiya et al, 2014). As a result of the
inadequacy of student accommodation, off-campus students need a place for dwelling, as the
term housing generally refers to the human basic needs (Adesoji et al., 2014). This also shows
that housing is very profound to students as it incorporates social and psychological aspects to
meet the needs, goals, and interests of students while providing a natural setting for educational
activities. Ecological in the notion that it serves as a comfort place for students and their
learning environment, and that connection has a big impact on the students’ performance. In
essence, student housing is a significant and integral aspect of the amenities provided by higher
education institutions to aid students in the cultivation of their intellectual capacities, personal
growth, and other academic-related tasks.
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

In general, a student from a B40 family who needs to rent a house will rent together with
their friend or a stranger. When this situation occurs among students who cannot afford to have
comfortable shelters, they will usually rent a house that shared by many students in order to
reduce their expenses, particularly the monthly rental payment. However, this situation will
present difficulties, especially in focusing study because of the current situation of the house.
Sinar Harian reported that the student is having difficulty in concentrating on their study because
the rent house is overcrowded with the student who had to share the accommodation provided
in their rent house. (Iftitah, 2022)

There are numerous expenses that students must bear nowadays. For example,
university fees, coursework expenses, university trips, etc. Because most students lack financial
support from their parents, they will apply for education loans such as PTPTN, MARA, and
others. However, the loan does not cover all daily expenses, especially for those who do not
have transportation to go to their campus. So that is why most of the students are burdened, as
they need to spend their money on monthly rental and e-hailing services as there are students
who rent far from the campus and the institution does not provide shuttle services to facilitate
student movement. (Fadilah, 2022)

Next, as required and as a medium for securing the property, The homeowner will
usually require a deposit for house rental. However, the deposit amount is high, and the student
will be unable to pay the deposit in one lump sum. This situation is similar to that reported by My
Metro, where the student having difficulties pays an advance with a high deposit to secure the
residence, especially for students who study in the city. (Redzuan, 2022)

Furthermore, because there is a limited supply of house rentals, particularly near

campus, the student must compete with other students to obtain a house rental in a good
location with an affordable monthly payment. However, this problem arises because the house
owner is unwilling to rent their home due to sanitary concerns and is traumatised by the
students' irresponsible behaviour. (Mstar, 2022)
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This research aims to improve the quality of accommodation for off-campus students in
UiTM Seri Iskandar. Hence, this research will address the following questions.

1. What are the factors students consider in selecting a rental house?

2. Are students satisfied with their current rental housing?

1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The main objectives for this research are:

1. To determine factors that students’ consider in selecting a house to rent.

2. To identify the satisfaction towards students’ rented houses.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH

1.5.1 Students

First and foremost, students can learn more useful information that will help them choose
the best home, particularly in terms of the home's condition and renting. Off-campus students
frequently have high expectations of having a suitable home that is better than on-campus
housing. Therefore, at the time of finding and surveying the house, they will know what aspects
they should focus on along with the rental cost set up by the owner based on the house's
characteristics. Thus, they will be able to understand how to negotiate with the owner regarding
the rental after using this information, which will also lead them to be satisfied with their choice.
 Besides that, this study is useful in creating awareness among the students regarding
their rights as tenants. The students will become more aware of all the rights they should have
before signing any contract. For example, the responsibility for the maintenance, duration of the
tenancy, and more. Therefore, by being aware of their rights as tenants, students can prevent
themselves from becoming victims of fraud.

1.5.2 Owner

Firstly, this study also contributes bits of knowledge to owners by identifying the needs of
students and how to manage them as tenants. Most owners lack an understanding of student
needs, and it is impossible to control human behavior. For example, several owners rent small
houses without furnishing them, yet the rental is high. The consequence of this is that students
are not being able to receive a conducive space, which then can affect their academic
performance and even the cleanliness of the dwelling itself. Hence, when students are
dissatisfied with their house, they will leave the house early and not recommend it to others.
Therefore, through our study, the owner will be able to identify what kind of basic furniture is
preferred by the students and should be put inside the house to receive student satisfaction and
avoid hygiene issues in the future.

Lastly, this study can help in determining the proper rental price based on the house's
condition. In our questionnaire, we will ask about the range preferred by the students and
preferred furniture and amenities. Hence, from here, the owner will get to allocate a proper
rental for the house. Not only the rental can bring income to the owner but also help to reduce
the students’ financial burden with property rental costs.

1.6 SCOPE OR LIMITATION

This research focuses on the satisfaction of house - renting among off - campus
students in UiTM Seri Iskandar. Therefore, this research will have the students of UiTM Seri
Iskandar as the population and the non - residents (NR) students as the sample.
 1.6.1 Limitation

1.6.1.1 Time limitation

Time limitations imposed for this research influenced the number of respondents,
data collection and the overall findings of this research.

1.6.1.2 Data limitation

This research is limited in terms of data. This is due to the fact that data
collection is only limited to the perspective of the non - residents (NR) students in UiTM
Seri Iskandar.

1.7 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology that will be used in this research is a quantitative method.
The process of gathering and interpreting numerical data is known as quantitative research. It
can be used to identify trends and averages, make predictions, examine correlation, and
generalize findings to larger populations (Pritha, 2022).

Preparing a set of questionnaires may be consuming a lot of time and quite complicated.
Hence, the data that will be collected in this research will be done by distributing a set of
questionnaires to the respondent. A set of questionnaires will be adopted from reliable sources
from the internet. Sample of questions that will be adopted into this research is from
gnomestudenthomes.co.uk website which provides about 22 examples of questions. The
examples of questions are frequently to be asked for students before renting any houses. Plus,
the questionnaire also will be adopted from journals and articles regarding the research topic.
 Furthermore, the questionnaire will be distributed by using an online platform which is
Google Form. This form will be distributed to the respondent which is the off-campus student.
The limited number of respondents that will be involved in this research is about 300 off-campus
students in Uitm Seri Iskandar, Perak. It also involved both gender, male and female.

Algorithms, mathematical analytical tools, and software are frequently used in

quantitative data analysis approaches to extract insights from the data and provide answers to
queries like how many, how frequently, and how much (Ofem, 2022). Hence, the data collected
will be analyzed by using mathematical analytical tools such as bar charts, tables and others.
REFERENCES

Abubakar Ghani, Z., Suleiman, N., & Onn Malaysia, H. (2016). Theoretical Underpinning for
Understanding Student Housing. 6(1). www.iiste.org

Ministry of Education, M. (2021). Quick Facts 2021, Malaysia Educational Statistics.

Putrajaya: Educational Data Sector, Educational Planning and Research Division, Ministry of
Education Malaysia

Thuraiya, M., Kamsiah, S., Mohamad Haizam, M. S., Wan Nor Hishamuddin, N. J., &
Ilyana, B. (2014). Housing Rental Expenses of Non-Resident Students in UiTM. In ICITSBE
2014 Ipoh 2 nd International Conference on Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Built
Environment.

Jiboye, A. D. (2014). Significance of house-type as a determinant of residential quality in

Osogbo, Southwest Nigeria. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 3(1), 20-27.

Pritha Bhandari. (2022). What is Quantitative Research?

Ofem Eteng. (2022). Quantitative Data Analysis: Methods & Techniques Simplified 101.

Iftitah, R.(2022, Sept 26). “Terpaksa Berhimpit Satu Rumah”. Sinar harian: Nasional

Fadilah, A. (2022, Oct 14). “Rumah Sewa Jauh, Kos Hidup Naik Terus Bebani Pelajar
Ipt”. Majoriti: Massa

Redzuan, M. & Noor, H. (2022, Sept 22).”Deposit RM6,000”. My Metro: Utama

Pelajar IPT buruk perangai, rumah sewa jari pusat sampah. (2022, Sept 21). Mstar: Viral