Although the proposed amendments to the Strata Titles Act of 1985 will deter property developers from abandoning their responsibility to apply for strata titles, it will not address the existing cases of non-compliance, according to Chang Kim Loong, Honorary Secretary-general at National House Buyers Association (HBA)
"The main purpose (of the Act) is to address issues of non-application of strata titles by developers, but what about existing cases?" he asked.
"What about strata property owners who are still waiting for their titles? How are you going to solve those cases where the developers have yet (to) apply for the strata titles?"
Chang cited the case of the properties at Chow Kit Road, Kuala Lumpur where the issuance of strata titles was long overdue, since the projects were already completed 20 to 30 years back.
"We've got cases where the developer went bankrupt or their firm was wound up prior to the issuance of the strata titles. What are we going to do about those (cases)?" he noted.
To tackle this problem, HBA has made various recommendations to the agency that oversees land matters, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. However, the suggestions are still being deliberated on.
"There's a special task force now that looks into this matter. We've made numerous recommendations there, how to circumvent the existing problem, how the prosecution needs to be beefed up and how the severity (of punishment) for non-application (by developers) is going to be enhanced," explained Chang.
Nonetheless, Chang believes that the proposed amendments to the Strata Titles Act will safeguard the interest of future house buyers.
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