Kuala lumpur: The Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) is studying a proposal to amend the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 (Act 118) to expand its enforcement scope to cover problematic commercial projects. Minister Nga Kor Ming said the proposed amendments would allow for more effective and comprehensive action, including blacklisting board members of parent developer companies as well as beneficiary owners.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the initiative aims to strengthen preventive measures and long-term actions to minimise the risk of private housing projects becoming problematic or abandoned. KPKT will enhance engagement with stakeholders, including enforcement agencies, legal bodies, industry players, and consumer representatives, to ensure the amendments to Act 118 are relevant and impactful, aligning with Malaysia MADANI aspirations.
The amendments propose that blacklisting will apply not only to parent companies but also to the actual owners behind them, with expectations to table the changes next year. This announcement was made during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat, in response to a query from Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) regarding the blacklisting of board members and the effectiveness of such measures.
Nga elaborated that once a project is confirmed as 'sick', KPKT would proactively blacklist the housing developer and the board members of the involved companies. Companies linked to the same directors would be barred from applying for new development licences, and their existing Housing Development Accounts would be frozen.
As of June 30, the Task Force for Sick and Abandoned Private Housing Projects has identified 233 delayed projects and 360 'sick' projects, with 220 of the latter having obtained the Certificate of Completion and Compliance and 14 restored to active status, involving 25,822 housing units. Nga noted that 1,127 abandoned projects have been successfully revived to date, benefitting 135,000 homebuyers.
Additionally, Nga mentioned that KPKT has developed a system enabling prospective homebuyers to check the blacklist of developer companies through the Teduh portal at https://teduh.kpkt.gov.my/. The system provides comprehensive information on housing companies for buyers' reference.
Nga advised buyers to refer to the Teduh system and only purchase houses from developers who are not blacklisted. This year, 109 developers have been blacklisted and barred from operating in the housing development sector to protect public rights and interests. This was in response to a supplementary question from Dr Halimah Ali (PN-Kapar) on the effectiveness of the blacklist measure without an open scoring system or track record rating for public reference before purchasing homes.