This study examines the decision making process practised by Malaysian housing developers at the planning phase for housing development. The theoretical process model is developed by integrating the process that has been established by numerous authors and researchers on the subject of decision making. Sets of the questionnaire are distributed to private housing developers and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Hence, this study provides a new process model for decision making at the planning phase of housing development in Malaysia and helps developers and governments to make better predictions before proceeding to the construction phase.

Literature discovered that the selection of the right tool affects the decision-making process at the planning phase of housing development project. Imprecise decision-making are capable of generating big threat to project completion. Therefore, the adoption of the right tool by decision makers are compulsory to prevent the occurrence of any difficulties on the final stage of the project. The objective of this research is to define the decision-making tool applied at the planning phase of housing development project in Malaysia. A total of 80 sets of structured questionnaires were distributed to the private housing developers in Malaysia and out of 67 were found usable after data screening. The descriptive statistical analysis and the correlated analysis are conducted in this study aided by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The results of this study show that most of the Malaysian private housing developers applied potential analysis, comparison analysis, economic analysis, feasibility study and 4P’s analysis as tools when making a decision at the planning phase of housing development project. Hence, this paper is supposed to lead the potential private housing developers along with the governments by providing a number of tools in making decisions at the planning phase of housing development project in Malaysia.

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A correct decision made by decision-makers, at the planning phase, determines the success of a housing development project. Detailed decision supporting data is needed to provide specific guidance to private housing developers. The purpose of this paper is to define a decision-making method to be employed at the construction planning phase of a housing development project in Malaysia. Survey method is implemented using a questionnaire that was distributed to 67 private housing developers. The collected data was then analysed via Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The outcomes of the analysis show that for Malaysian private housing developers, discussion and market/economic report are the most important methods that are applied while making a decision for a housing development project. Thus, this paper is supposed to guide private housing developers as well as governments in making decisions at the construction planning phase of housing development projects in Malaysia.