‘Check on status before buying land to build homes’

The Star 28/9/2005 By WANI MUTHIAH

BE cautious when buying individual lots to build homes.

Selangor Land and Mines Department director Zoal Azha Yusof said there were incidences of owners dividing their land and selling the property as individual lots without adhering to the provisions enshrined in the National Land Code 1965.

“And, the land comes under a block title,’’ he said.

The problems were numerous, said Zoal Azha.

“For instance, if a land is initially meant for agricultural purposes, the owner will have to convert its status from agriculture to residential or industry.

“This must be followed by proper division of land, with each individual lot receiving its own title,’’ he added.

Zoal Azha said there had been several cases in recent times where the new owners found themselves in a quandary because of the unscrupulous ways adopted by those who sold the property.

“They find out too late that they cannot build houses on the land because agriculture land had been sold to them without being converted or divided into individual titled lots,’’ he said.

In some cases, he added, buyers were made to believe that the vendors would take care of the conversion and titles after the sale.

“The developers promise ‘to take care of things’, but disappear soon after the sale has been done,’’ said Zoal Azha, adding that buyers should check the status of the land with their local land office before purchasing a property.

“It only costs RM30 to carry out individual searches on land status and the findings are obtainable then and there,’’ he said.

He said the conversion of land could also be carried out within 22 weeks if all the necessary requirements were met.