KOTA KINABALU: Sabah can expect a more customised legislation, including the proposed amendment to the existing Land () 1972.
Special Tasks Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Teo Chee Kang said the change was in phase two of the Subsidiary Title and Management Corporation Review.
“We are now looking into the second phase of our job, which is to look into enacting new legislation as well as amending the existing subsidiary title enactment,” said Teo, who chairs the state Steering Committee.
“We are actually looking at the strata management act and also the strata title act which is applicable in West Malaysia, as our reference.
“At the same time, we are also looking into legislation in other jurisdictions like in Singapore and possibly Hong Kong as well to come up with a comprehensive solution for Sabah.
“However, we are not going to incorporate everything wholesale from the West Malaysian legislation, we have to amend them to suit our needs in the state.
“Presently, my committee is working very closely with the state Attorney General Chambers to come up with the draft for our new legislation,” he confirmed.
Teo said this when he was officiating at the Malaysian Secondary and Primary Property Exhibition (MASPEX) 2017 Sabah at the Imago Shopping Mall here yesterday.
He also stressed the importance of affordable housing for the growing medium to lower income group when it comes to the property industry in Sabah.
“According to the Valuation and Property Services Department’s property market report in 2016, there was a total number of 6,983 properties transactions in Sabah with a total value of RM3.51 billion, about 10 per cent compared to 2015.
“Some 79.7 per cent of the total transactions were priced below RM500,000 and only seven per cent of the transactions were priced at RM1 million and above,” Teo said in his opening speech address.
“Most transactions were in the residential sub-sector with a total value in the region of RM1.308 billion or about 37.2 per cent of the overall market value.
“Based on the figures given, we could safely assume that generally, the primary and secondary properties priced in the range of RM500,000 and below are still in good demand.
“This is mainly due to the growing population as well as the ever-increasing number of working class relocating from rural to urban areas, especially obvious among the younger generation.
“Therefore, there is a need for more affordable housing for the medium to low income group, especially the younger working class,” he stressed.
In addition, Teo hopes that the banks also look into the formulation of more innovative and creative banking facilities to help the lower and medium income group own homes.