Over 900 housebuyers in debt because of abandoned houses

Utusan  Online 15/11/2002

JOHOR BAHRU Nov 14 - A total of 922 housebuyers in Johor are indebted to either banks or financial institutions following the abandonment of 24 housing projects as of December last year, the state assembly was told today.

State Housing, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Samat Aripin said a report by the Housing and Local Government Ministry showed that 13 of the abandoned projects were not viable for revival and their number was rising.

Replying to Khoo Kong Ek (BN-Skudai), he said that when a housing project was abandoned, the buyers would be saddled with debts or loans from banks and financial institutions.

He said the government was taking steps to revive the abandoned projects, including negotiating with the developers, buyers, technical agencies and banks to find a solution.

Samat said the government provided advice and guidelines to developers wanting to take over the abandoned projects and worked with Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad to identify problem projects and recommend abandoned one for revival.

Asked whether housebuyers' rights were protected under the Housing Developers Act, he said the act had been amended to the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) (Amendment) Act 2002 but the enforcement date had yet to be announced by the minister.

He said many changes had been made to the act to protect housebuyers. They included the setting up of a Tribunal for Homebuyers Claims with a claim ceiling of RM25,000.

"The buyers need not file civil action in an ordinary court nor appoint lawyers to make claims against developers for failure to complete the project," he said.