Strata Title Act to be Amended
by V.P. Sujata, The Star 9-November-2006
PUTRAJAYA: Developers of gated community projects, unable to get bank
loans due to problems of getting strata titles, can heave a sigh of
relieve with the Cabinet's approval to amend the Strata Title Act 1985.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said
the draft for the amendments had been approved and would be read out in
the current Parliament sitting.
He hoped it could be passed next year.
He said the gated community concept has become popular, as it is a
mixed development concept with swimming pools, community centre,
recreational facilities and security services.
He added that homebuyers, whether in terrace houses or high-rises,
shared the facilities and paid maintenance fees.
"So far there is no law to show how all these people can share the
strata title," Azmi told reporters at his ministry's Hari Raya
gathering here yesterday.
"Due to this, there is a delay in issuing the titles. Banks, using this
excuse, do not want to offer loans to developers of such projects."
Acknowledging that this had affected the housing industry, he added
that another Act under the purview of the Housing and Local Government
Ministry would also have to be amended to solve the problem.
"The other Act would deal with the management and maintenance of
high-rise buildings, many of which do not have strata titles due to
inadequate provisions in the law," he added.
Azmi said with more provisions, strata titles could be issued within
two months, and banks would also give loans.
On the landslide at the Wangsa Maju low-cost flats on Oct 9, Azmi said
the Cabinet had instructed the Public Works Department to produce a
report as well as conduct a study on the surrounding areas.
Residents from four blocks of the Section 10 low-cost flats were
evacuated after a section of the hillside nearby collapsed.
On the quarry landslide in Kedah on Tuesday, Azmi said quarries were
normally approved after an EIA report was accepted, and the local
authority should look into the matter.