KOTA KINABALU – Real estate and property developers in Sabah are hoping that Putrajaya will keep certain stimulus packages as they need more recovery time in a bearish market.
Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Shareda) president Datuk Chua Soon Ping said the health crisis has increased the cost of doing business and its members hope to be able to ride out the storm while they can.
“We are looking forward to the government opening doors to businesses as we are entering the next phase.
“We believe that the authorities will look into implementing a friendly and workable framework of good governance in the planning policies and in providing us the much-needed short-term solutions to curb operation costs, in particular for the private sectors,” he said here today.
Chua said the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) and the first home campaign should be extended in Budget 2022.
“We are proposing for the federal government to extend the HOC for another six months.
“During the announcement of the HOC extension from June 1 to December 31, most states were still in the MCO (movement control order) phase, with construction sites and developer’s offices closed, including showrooms and sales galleries.
“So, there was a time lapse for potential homebuyers to view show units until after August 25, when showrooms and sales galleries were allowed to open in Sabah.”
As for the first home campaign, Chua said the government should continue to allocate RM300 million or more to it in the forthcoming Budget.
“This will encourage the private sector to participate in building more affordable homes under the MyHome scheme, which offers an incentive of up to RM30,000 per home unit that benefits first-time homebuyers and private housing developers.
“The subsidy provided by the government for each home sold helps to reduce the cost for the first-time homebuyers who are not required to pay the standard 10% down payment, as well as ensuring financial returns for housing developers.”
Chua also urged for the government to review or waive the Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT), relax home loan policies and streamline the Malaysia MySecond Home guidelines due to the sluggish Sabah property market.
“We are proposing for the government to review (policies) to improve approval rates for B40 and M40 applicants, especially first-time homebuyers.
“The federal government also needs to consider reducing the RPGT rate for foreign ownership to attract niche foreign investors and talents to come and invest in the property market under the official threshold capped price and the types of properties accordingly.”
For instance, he said the government can reduce the threshold price from RM1 million to RM600,000 per unit of residential property for high-rise development and commercial suites in Sabah, adding that the sale of the local stock to foreigners will help stimulate the economy and its related downstream businesses.
Chua said one of the initiatives introduced under the Penjana initiative's exemption order sees Malaysians exempted from paying the 5% (or higher) RPGT for the disposal of residential property from June 1 to December 31.
He added Putrajaya should consider a zero-rated RPGT on the transfer and disposal of properties from the sixth year onwards or downward revision of the tax.
“It will reduce potential taxable profit for homebuyers who purchased a home before this date under HOC.
“Hence, there will be savings and financial relief to help the B40 and M40 low-income homebuyer to own a home, especially affordable housing.”
Regarding contractual obligations, Chua said Putrajaya should introduce a temporary release to developers who cannot meet their obligations. – The Vibes, October 28, 2021
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