KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — The Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 (Act 118), which is set to be amended, will not only bring developers involved in fraud or abandoned projects to court but also prevent them from leaving the country.
Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming said the current Act only protects residential properties, commercial shops, offices, shopping centres and commercial units that are not subject to control.
He said once amended, any cases of fraud will be prosecuted in court and offenders will face a prison sentence of three years, a fine ranging from RM250,000 to RM500,000, or both.
“The government will take stricter preventive measures on this issue and the ministry will strive to protect the rights and interests of home buyers, while also upholding the professional image of the housing industry.
“Buying a home may require someone’s lifetime savings, so developers should be more sincere in enhancing the country’s real estate market reputation. We have many professional and world-class developers, but there are also ‘black sheep’ in this industry,” he said in a statement today.
Nga said the government has learned from Australia, Dubai and Singapore to expand the scope of the act by forming a contract that is fairer, more reasonable and transparent.
In a related development, he said that to date, a total of 351 “sick projects” have been salvaged, involving approximately 43,000 home buyers with a value of RM33 billion through the Housing and Local Government Ministry’s “Sick Housing Project” taskforce.
“There are developers who misuse buyers’ hard-earned money for other purposes, causing negative cash flow and leading to the abandonment of projects.
“A good administrative system must have clear rewards and punishments. We will penalise those who tarnish the industry’s name, while at the same time, we must also give recognition to those who perform excellently,” he said. — Bernama
