Govt only listened to developers, say house buyers

The Association of Victims of Abandoned Properties Malaysia says groups such as itself and the House Buyers Association were not consulted before the tabling of the 2020 Budget. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Association of Victims of Abandoned Properties Malaysia has criticised Putrajaya for not consulting them when drawing up the 2020 Budget, claiming the incentives announced on Friday mainly benefited the developers.

This is specially so, its chairman Mohamed Rafick Khan said, for incentives under the Home Ownership Campaign and the reduction of the cap for foreigners to purchase urban high-rise properties.

Rafick also claimed the housing and local government ministry did not engage the House Buyers Association and other consumer groups before tabling the Budget.

“They have only engaged and listened to one side – the developers. Is it too hard to be fair and be different than the previous government? If there is a will, it can be done,” he said in a statement.

On Friday, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that the threshold for foreign property buyers will be reduced to RM600,000 from RM1 million from next year.

This is to address the glut of unsold condominiums and apartment units, worth some RM8.3 billion.

Putrajaya also extended the Home Ownership Campaign by six months to Dec 31, 2019, whereby developers providing a discount of at least 10% for qualified properties will be matched with stamp duty exemptions.

Rafick said the incentives announced were a “boon for developers”.

He suggested that several conditions be imposed on the 10% discount, including for the campaign to run for at least 12 months and for developers to provide proof that they had run such a campaign on a comprehensive basis.

The scheme, he said, must only be offered to developers with completed projects.

“Newly licensed projects cannot be given this privilege as it may lead to abuse,” he said. - FMT