Housing developers must standardise deposit payment

Housing developers must standardise deposit payments as well as other charges in property dealings to protect buyers from feeling manipulated or cheated by the developers.

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said this following the case of a house buyer who claimed to have been the victim of house prices' manipulation by a developer in Johor Bahru.

"This issue caught the attention of internet users after the case of the house buyer was spread through the Whatsapp application and other social media since September 25.

"I have instructed the ministry's secretary-general to investigate the matter and he has met with the complainant to get more details," he told reporters after launching a project on Green Technology Building Innovation by Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) here today.

Also present were Chairman of UMP board of directors, Datuk Mohd Hilmey Mohd Taib and its vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Daing Nasir Ibrahim

"We have also got a reaction from a representative of the developer. This case is due to a misunderstanding and confusion over the cost that has to be paid by the buyer for the Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera lots," he said.

Abdul Rahman said all house buyers of Bumiputera lots had to bear the service charges such as lawyer's fees for the sales and purchase agreement, loan stamp duty and stamp duty for the memorandum of transfer.

Those of the non-Bumiputera lots did not have to pay these extra charges as they had to pay a higher deposit, he said.