Strata Act amended recently to defuse time bomb
30/07/2007 The Star

THE Strata Titles Act (STA) 1985 has been amended recently to help defuse the “time bomb” over the management of properties issued or to be issued with strata titles.

Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment director general for strata title division Dr Azimuddin Bahari said the latest STA amendments involved eight new definitions and were to:

Provide provisions for introducing the computerisation system for registration of strata titles;

Enable strata titles to be issued for houses within the gated community schemes;

Richard Chan: Developers must not lower the service charge just to attract buyers

Enable strata titles to be issued for special buildings (old buildings);

Ensure the original proprietor and the purchasers do not delay in executing the transfer of ownership of strata titles (mandatory requirement);

Overcome issues on management corporations such as compulsory requirement to table audited accounts during the initial period and engagement of registered property managers to determine adequate amount of maintenance fees chargeable on parcel owners;

Synchronise with the provisions of the Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act, 2007;

Allow for the formation of the Strata Titles Board (STB) at the federal level instead of the state authorities and to provide the STB additional powers to hear disputes and determine orders of the disputes; and

Increase the fine for certain offences as a deterrent.
He said previously the MC must pay the quit rent for the master title, but with the amendments, such payments were on individual parcels.

Malaysian Association for Shopping and High-Rise Complex Management (PPK) advisor and immediate past president Richard Chan told the seminar that developers must not lower the service charge just to attract buyers.

Cheah Wing Choong: Owners were now drawn into the decision-making process
“If you cannot collect sufficient amount of service charge, you cannot maintain the building,” he said, adding that the amount of sinking fund was also vital in maintaining a building.

He said determining the share ratio in service charge was critical and had to be done even before the signing of the sale and purchase agreement.

Real Estate & Housing Developers Association Malaysia (Rehda) deputy secretary general Cheah Wing Choong in his paper Why are we still developing strata titled properties? How are we improving on it? said that with the joint management body, the owners were now drawn into the decision-making process.

“Now it has become law and the developers must engage the owners. This legislation (BCPMM Act 2007) upon making the appropriate amendments should eventually clear suspicions between the developer and the owners and create a working relationship which is very important for the successful management of the strata-titled property,” he said.

He urged developers to put a lot of thought in the management of the condominiums that they developed. “It is important for the developer to organise a good management team to manage the condominium prior to the formation of the management corporations. A serious condominium developer would need to have a good management team if it wants to build a reputation for itself.”

Cheah warned that if stratified properties continued to deteriorate, they might end up as ghettos and become a common sight in the country's property landscape.

“Frankly, many of the low and medium-cost apartments are in a deplorable state. Strata-titled properties are here to stay. Developers are generally now more aware of their responsibilities and commitments, and with the enforcement of the appropriate Acts and a more educated public, strata-titled properties should continue to be a major investment instrument,” he added.