House buyers need protection

RECENTLY, Deputy Finance Minister II Datuk Lee Chee Leong said in Parliament that there was a 40% increase in the number of unsold completed residential units (20,807 units with a value of RM12.26bil) in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year.

This is a very worrisome matter as this figure is for the primary market only. The number of unsold residential units will be much higher with the inclusion of the unsold units in the secondary market.

I suffered financial difficulties when the condominium project in USJ Subang Jaya in which I bought a unit in 2000 was abandoned. The project was 80% sold and 50% completed when it was abandoned. After eight years, the project was revived but the buyers had to pay up another 15% of the original purchase price. They also had to sign new sales and purchase agreements which resulted in loss of the parking bays that had been stated in the original sales and purchase agreements.

The buyers had no choice because the financial institution that provided the bridge financing had the charge of the land.

As such, the buyers were vulnerable and had to accept the new unfavourable conditions in order to get the project revived.

I bought a semi-detached house about 15 years ago in a project that consisted of five phases. I was luckier this time around as the house was in the phase that was completed after a delay of two years. The rest were abandoned and until today there is no sign that they will be completed any time soon. We can only imagine the suffering of the buyers who purchased the houses 15 years ago.

Due to the bad reputation of the project and the unsightly view of the abandoned phases, the rental and sale value of my house is depressed. Therefore, I hope the authorities will protect house buyers by implementing measures to prevent abandonment of housing projects.

Even though many projects are completed, the numerous unsold units in them can pose problems like low occupation rates, which will create further problems like security.

High-rise projects with low occupation rates will result in poor contribution of maintenance fees, resulting in poor maintenance services.

I also strongly advise house buyers to be careful and do their homework before they sign on the dotted line. If they are uncertain, it is safer to buy houses in the secondary market. THOMAS FOO Subang Jaya