Bukit Bintang Plaza is safe, says MRT Corp

MASS Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) has given assurances that Bukit Bintang Plaza (BB Plaza) was not under any threat of collapse or damage due to the construction of the Bukit Bintang Station.
In a press statement yesterday, the company said all other buildings on the surface of where underground works were conducted were also safe.

The statement added that the technology applied for the construction is state-of-the-art, and all necessary precautions were undertaken by the contractor, MMC Gamuda KVMRT (Tunnelling) Sdn Bhd (MGKT).
This assurance was given following UDA Holdings Bhd’s media releases on Oct 16 and Oct 27 which had stated that BB Plaza was “not very safe for occupation due to underground works for the construction of the MRT.”

The statement further stated that throughout the tunnelling works, no buildings along the road were damaged.

“Our contractor, MGKT, had taken all necessary steps to monitor ground movements during the activity, to ensure that building and public safety was not compromised.
“This included installation of monitoring equipment on buildings and structures along Jalan Bukit Bintang, as well as visual monitoring of roads and buildings by engineers.

“Apart from two sinkholes that appeared in April 2014 at the western end of the very busy road, no other untoward incidents were reported to have occurred as a result of MRT construction there, or along the 9.5km underground alignment of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line,” read the statement.

On UDA Holdings’ intention to redevelop the site on which BB Plaza sat, MRT Corp said it welcomed the move as the development of a new mall next to the Bukit Bintang Station would be an added attraction for both local and foreign tourists.
Once completed and operational in July 2017, the SBK Line will have the capacity to transport 20,000 passengers per hour per direction.


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S P Setia wins award for Setia Sky Residences

CH Williams Talhar & Wong managing director and member of the Malaysia judging panel Foo Gee Jen (left) congratulates Wong at the awards ceremony.

PETALING JAYA: Property developer S P Setia Bhd has added another win under its belt by clinching the Best Luxury Condo Award (Malaysia) at the prestigious South East Asia Property Awards 2014.
The company won the award for its luxury high-rise development, Setia Sky Residences, sited on 2.4ha of prime freehold land in Kuala Lumpur.

S P Setia executive vice-president Datuk Wong Tuck Wai, who received the award on behalf of the group, said there had been some truly exceptional properties on the shortlist.
“We are truly honoured by this recognition as it speaks volumes of our innovative inspirations and our commitment to deliver excellence to our customers,” he said in a press statement yesterday.

Setia Sky Residences also won the Best Luxury Condo for Central Malaysia at the Malaysian chapter of the awards, as well as the Special Honour Award at the Malaysia Landscape Architecture Awards 2013.
S P Setia is the only Malaysian developer to have received six FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Awards by the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) and eight FIABCI Malaysia Property Awards.

As of Aug 31, 2014, S P Setia had 33 ongoing projects and 1873.7ha of undeveloped land-bank worth RM93bil in remaining gross development value, of which its effective stake is RM64bil.
The South East Asia Property Awards 2014 was organised by Ensign Media, the publisher of Property Report South East Asia magazine.

Over 300 entries were shortlisted by BDO Advisory, one of the world’s largest auditing firms, which acted as an independent auditor for the awards ceremony.
About 30 awards were presented, including Best Commercial Development, Best Green Development, Best Villa Development and Best Developer.


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Strata living – a tale of two cities

Real Legal
BY CHRIS TAN

“IT was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
We had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
We were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

The famous opening line in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens presents to us the tension and opposing attitudes borne between the inhabitants of the two cities. This disparity reflects our perception of “Strata Living” – a form of progressive yet regulated community living made possible by its inhabitants within its gated guarded boundary.

Strata is a legal concept that has been around officially for almost three decades in Peninsular Malaysia since the introduction of the Strata Title Act in the 80s and has never cease to expand its roots till to-date. As a working concept, it stretches further back to history under the subsidiary title under the National Land Code. Official statistics from the Housing Ministry in late-2012 shows that one out of four stays in a strata development in Peninsular Malaysia. In response to such pressured demands, the yet to be enforced Strata Title (Amendment) Act 2013 (STAA) and Strata Management Act 2013 were passed in parliament to better serve such needs.

Strata living often relates to the affordability and buying power. The common presumption is the less fortunate gets a piece of “air space” made possible by construction technology. Nonetheless, parallel to the scenario in the Dickens fiction, there may exist a twin (a Siamese genre for this instance) with overlapping similarities while simultaneously distinguishable by the underlying motivation akin to the two sides of the same coin.

The reality of strata living has come about due to the scarcity of land in areas where infrastructures are concentrated and increasing land cost. Over the years, the Government has been trying to improve house ownership through the introduction of affordable houses, with the most recent example being PR1MA. The basis of strata living is self-management and self-sufficiency.

In other words, once developers have done their part, they wipe their hands clean of any further obligations save for any latent defects or negligence. This form of strata living is seen as affordable. The negative part is you have small plots of land with residential units densely packed together; a suffocating and uncomfortable setting to raise a family. So is the tale of one city – a grey and morbidly dense city.

Yet, by a flip of the same coin, the concept of strata living need not be restrictive. It is not confined to vertical multi-level structures but also horizontal living – gated, guarded and landed communities. This type of strata living is naturally more expensive and caters to the higher income group – lavish strata living with lesser restraint on space, practically the area of an entire building with landscaping. Imagine the typical Western upper-class neighbourhood – the lack of fencing between the houses within the gated boundary creates opportunities for connection and interaction. Children are able to roam freely and safely within the gated boundary.

With the soon to be effective STAA 2013, the exclusivity in strata living lifestyle is expected to increase. By virtue of the Act, the management corporation (MC) has the discretion to designate limited common property areas for the exclusive enjoyment of a particular group of parcel owners. In other words, there will be more diversity in strata living moving forward.

With such an enactment, one can only envision the inevitable formation of the MC that is akin to that of a resident’s committee in Singapore. Moving-in resident, owner or tenant, is required to undergo MC screening, which resembles a school admission interview and will be categorised based on social status, income levels etc.

Moving up a notch, one can envisage the setting up of a property management fund contributed by the owners and managed by professional fund managers to ensure a handsome return to the MC for long-term sustainability in maintaining the desired lifestyle of the strata community. Simultaneously, without much restraint financially, outsourcing such maintenance work to a professional management group is made possible.

Such is the tale of another city – a desired city of hopes and possibilities. There are both strata projects, but so vastly different.

From the above, one city simply does not reflect the other. While the idea of chipping into strata living is involuntary at large, there are pros in strata living that warrant the higher income group to choose and favour strata living.

Bundling with the improvement of the strata regime that caters to the wants of this higher income group, strata living is the way forward for Malaysia in our path to a developed nation.

>> Chris Tan is the founder and managing partner of Chur Associates

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PR1MA gets down to work

Artist’s impression of PR1MA@Alam Damai, Cheras. Registration for specific PR1MA developments nationwide will soon be opened through newspapers and PR1MA’s website.

PERBADANAN PR1MA Malaysia, tasked with undertaking the 1Malaysia Housing Programme to build affordable housing schemes for middle-income Malaysians, is getting on with its responsibility with 90,461 housing units approved for development across the country.
Established under the Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia Act 2012, it has a panel of Members of Corporation (MOC) to oversee the operations of PR1MA in the performance of its functions and powers. They comprise of Tan Sri Jamaludin Jarjis, Datuk Abdul Mutalib Alias, Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa, Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, Datuk Azlin Alias, Datuk Sri Mohammed Shazalli Ramly, Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Datuk Seri Abdul Wahab Maskan.
According to PR1MA chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Mutalib, PR1MA is the sole authority empowered to plan, develop, construct and maintain affordable housing and townships under the 1Malaysia Housing Programme.
“Our mandate is to build 500,000 units of PR1MA homes. Close to 40,000 units would have started construction or will start construction by end-2014. A cumulative total of 160,000 units will be approved by PR1MA’s MOC for 2013 and 2014,” he tells StarBizWeek.
Under Budget 2015, RM1.3bil has been allocated for PR1MA to build 80,000 homes, with the qualifying monthly household income ceiling raised to RM10,000 from RM8,000 previously.
The PR1MA projects will be built in all the states nationwide, and for the Klang Valley, the approved projects are located in Cheras, Brickfields, Bukit Jalil, Bukit Bintang, Setapak, Sepang, Kajang and Ampang Jaya.
Abdul Mutalib says the PR1MA projects that have commenced construction are in Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Perak. The developments comprise landed properties, high-rise apartments and mixed developments.
“The development offerings will vary; from studio units to 3-bedroom units to suit the needs of our customer profile.
“We also hope to offer “Grow Homes” or “Rumah Ibu”, a type of home that is meant for the various groups of middle-income earners including singles, young couples and single parents, who will appreciate the flexibility of having the infrastructure to grow their house bigger. This type of homes however, are restricted to areas where land is cheap,” Abdul Mutalib explains.
Explaining the PR1MA development concept, he says the housing projects will be aesthetically pleasing, in a community where the amenities and facilities are thoughtfully planned.
The projects will be secure to ensure the safety of all PR1MA residents, and areas where they can come together socially through recreational spaces, amenities and facilities will be provided.
PR1MA townships will include verdant gardens, play grounds, surau and day-care centres as standard features.
To meet PR1MA’s objective of playing the catalytic role of providing affordable housing for the middle-income group, he says the key focus will be to undertake demand analysis to identify the need for the PR1MA homes in order to monitor and manage the quality, supply and demand situation; supervise, plan and execute the design, construction, maintenance and operations of the PR1MA homes and communities; building the brand of PR1MA homes by setting and enforcing the standards for the developments; set the selling prices and allocate PR1MA homes to eligible buyers as well as offer buyer financing assistance programmes; and drive the public-private partnerships to accelerate the delivery of the mandate.
PR1MA is working closely with private developers, local authorities and partners, to expedite the standard operating procedures and processes in the least time possible.
It is also exploring collaboration possibilities on Industrialised Housing Technology with other building technology providers from Japan, Australia, UK, US and China to expedite the building process.
Public-private collaboration
Abdul Mutalib says given the scale of development that PR1MA has to undertake and deliver, it needs ample land to build the houses but so far, the lands that have been received from the Federal Government are rather minimal.
“As such we also need to look to the state governments to source for the required land as they can be obtained at a lower cost.
“We also work with government linked companies, private developers and cooperatives in identifying land which are suitable for PR1MA developments. We encourage the relevant parties to collaborate with PR1MA to build the houses,” Abdul Mutalib says.
PR1MA also works with other developers to build developments that are designed to meet social, environmental and economic sustainability objectives, where people want to live, work and play, in thriving and safe communities which are actively engaged.

He says registration for the specific PR1MA developments nationwide will soon be opened through the newspapers and PR1MA’s website.
“We will continue to open for registration more PR1MA developments as and when they are ready, and subsequently do ballotings for these developments. To date, PR1MA@Seremban Sentral has been opened for application. The balloting for this development will be organised soon,” he says.
Explaining the building process, he says before the house can be delivered to the buyer, there are many processes that must be followed such as proper research, planning, approval of the board, approval of the land development application, the local authority and other approvals that are needed to be obtained before construction begins.
Construction will take approximately 24 months for landed property and 36 months for high-rise developments.
To be eligible for a PR1MA Home, applicants must meet several key criteria. Applicants need to be a Malaysian citizen aged 21 years and above, with preference given to residents in the area where the PR1MA development would be built. Applicants should not own more than one property in Malaysia.
They should also have an individual or combined gross household income of between RM2,500 and RM10,000 a month to qualify.
The income band has just been expanded from a ceiling of RM7,500 previously, to RM10,000.
This is in line with the National Household Income (HHI) survey data which has shown that the average HHI has been rising the past few years with a significant increase in urban areas such as Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor.
Rising in tandem is the average value of properties in these areas which have been on an upward trend.
Statistics show that the average property value in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor have risen by 37.6% and 19.9% respectively, between 2012 and 2013 (according to Property Market Report 2013 Valuation and Property Services Department).
This rapid increase in market house prices have surpassed the means of the middle income group, especially those living in urban areas.
By expanding the middle-income household bandwidth, Abdul Mutalib says PR1MA would be able to offer home ownership opportunities for a wider segment of the population.
“Besides the public at large, civil servants, including teachers too, will stand to benefit from this expanded bandwidth.
“The salary structure of a government officer (Grade 44) has a gross monthly salary of RM3,600. If combined with their spouse’s income, and factoring in annual increments, it would definitely exceed the RM 7,500 threshold.
“Through this increase, not only would it provide an opportunity for this group to own a home, but it would also open avenues for those individuals up to Grade 48 and even Grade 52,” he says.
Under the PR1MA end-financing packages with its panel of banks comprising Maybank, MBSB and CIMB Bank, end-financing packages of up to 110% margin of finance from the sale and purchase agreement price will be provided. These financing packages include funding for MRTA/MRTT, legal fees, stamp duties and other loan-related expenses. No deposit is required and all loan-related expenses will be covered. The loan tenure is for up to 35 years or up to age 70, whichever is earlier.
Buyers may choose to either service the interest during construction and commence instalment only upon completion of the property, or another option is to capitalise the progressive interest into the loan amount whilst waiting for completion of the property.
No processing fees will be imposed for the loan. The moratorium is 10 years for outright purchases.
And to help those who are not able to get bank financing even through PR1MA’s panel banks, purchasers can opt for a deferred home ownership scheme called Rent-to-Own (RTO).
RTO is a 10-year rental scheme developed to help buyers to eventually own their home.
Participants will initially rent a PR1MA home and eventually purchase the PR1MA home at a pre-determined option price through conventional end-financing when their credit position has improved.
For outright purchasers, they cannot sell the house for ten years, while for those on the RTO scheme, the moratorium is 15 years.

First-time house buyers to gain

HBA is happy that more affordable homes are to be built under Budget 2015 and DIBS ban stays.

THE National House Buyers Association (HBA) wishes to thank the Prime Minister for the measures announced in Budget 2015 to build more affordable homes for the rakyat.

HBA is grateful that the Prime Minister rejected calls from the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia and other groups with vested interest to reintroduce Developer Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS) for first-time house buyers.

DIBS

The HBA is glad the Government has continued to heed our call to ban DIBS or any permutation that entails interest capitalisation.

Developers, being entrepreneurs, have to be responsible and bear the risks that come with their investment. They should not be allowed to enjoy profits at the expense of house-buyers who bear the risks on their behalf. Thus, when developers claim that DIBS is good because they “assist new purchasers”, they should be asked to use the Built Then Sell (BTS) 10:90 concept instead if they are sincere in not wanting to shift the risks to the house-buyers. Developers, being profit driven, merely want to sell their products, by whatever means. They even recommended DIBS for first-time house buyers on the guise of “assisting them”. We are glad the developers did not succeed in this endeavour.

The prohibition of DIBS in Budget 2014 has been effective in curbing the unbridled escalation of house prices. DIBS must continue to be prohibited and outlawed. Do not allow first-time house buyers to be sucked in.

Budget 2015

Among some of the measures announced is the Youth Housing Scheme, which is a smart partnership among the Government, Bank Simpanan Nasional, Employees Provident Fund and Cagamas.

The scheme offers a funding limit for a first home not exceeding RM500,000 for married couples aged between 25 and 40 years with household income not exceeding RM10,000. The maximum loan period is 35 years.

Under the scheme, the Government will provide monthly financial assistance of RM200 to borrowers for the first two years to reduce the burden of monthly instalments. The Government will also give 50% stamp duty exemption on the instrument of transfer agreements and loan agreements.

It will also provide a 10% loan guarantee to enable borrowers to obtain full financing including cost of insurance. Borrowers can also withdraw from Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Account 2 to top up their monthly instalment and other related costs.

Hence, HBA urges young people to grab this opportunity which is offered on a “first-come first-served basis” for 20,000 units only.

While the scheme is laudable as it aims to assist married youths to own their own property, HBA urges some caution as providing a monthly cash subsidy of RM200 may send a wrong message. The said family may start to spend beyond their means during the first two years and may end up in financial difficulty when the government stops giving the cash subsidy after two years. In addition, HBA has always cautioned against so-called “Zero Entry Cost” properties whereby the buyer does not need to make any down payment as it may encourage and promote irresponsible house buyers. House buyers must understand the intricacies of taking responsibility as an owner. They must pay their dues – quit rent, assessment rate, maintenance charge, sinking fund, insurance premium and budget monthly expenses. It is very important that they pay monthly instalments to the bank. It is not surprising to hear of lower and middle income homeowners losing their homes for not being able to keep up with payments.

HBA also urges the Government to impose a restriction that properties under the Youth Scheme cannot be sold for the first 10 years, similar to properties under the 1Malaysia Housing Programme (PR1MA).

Additionally, the scheme must be for “first-time house buyers” and must be owner-occupied.
Additional measures are:

1. PR1MA to build 80,000 affordable houses and eligibility raised from monthly household income of RM8,000 to RM10,000;
2. National Housing Department to build 26,000 units under the People’s Housing Programme with an allocation of RM644mil; and
3. Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) to build 12,000 units of Rumah Mesra Rakyat and 5,000 units of Rumah Idaman Rakyat. SPNB will also build 20,000 units of Rumah Aspirasi Rakyat on privately-owned land.

HBA is grateful that the Government has taken the initiative to build more affordable houses. However, HBA cautions on the right implementation to ensure the said affordable housing reaches the target market.

Government agencies must be mindful – and keep reminding themselves – of the following adage: “Build the right number at the right location for the right population at the right price and with the right type.”
The affordable housing must be built at the right place and priced reasonably (between RM150,000 and RM300,000 and not more than RM400,000 for prime locations) and only for first-time house buyers and not to be made available for second-time house buyers which PR1MA is allowing with certain conditions.
Don’t ever build where there is no population, just for the sake of building and meeting key performance indicators (KPIs).
PR1MA must also ensure that all the allocated land are used to build affordable housing and not to partner with private developers whereby only 40% of the land (from what we understand from the market) are for affordable properties with the balance used for lifestyle properties to build commercial and high-end properties.

HBA further opines that the best agent of delivery for private affordable housing, notwithstanding PR1MA and SPNB, are private developers. The Government can boost the delivery of affordable housing by giving incentives and rebates to private developers building affordable housies such as:

• Lower corporate tax rates;
• Lower land conversion premiums;
• Fast-track release of unsold bumiputra units; and
• Lower compliance costs.

To enable more people to own their first home and reduce the cost of buying a house, the Government has agreed to extend the 50% stamp duty exemption on instruments of transfer and loan agreements and increase the purchase limit from RM400,000 to RM500,000. The exemption will be given until Dec 31, 2016.

HBA agrees with measures to assist the lower and middle-income group to acquire their own properties and to prevent any abuse of these measures, the assistance should only be given to first time house buyers.
The Government also agrees to improve Skim Rumah Pertamaku under the purview of Cagamas by raising the ceiling price to RM500,000 in line with the stamp duty exemption. In addition, the age of borrowers to qualify for the scheme will be increased from 35 to 40 years.

HBA agrees with the these measures and further recommends that there be no age cap as there are many older low and middle-income groups who have yet to own their first property.

Conclusion
The curbs announced and implemented under Budget 2014, i.e. increase in Real Property Gains Tax (exit costs), the loan-to-value and prohibition of DIBS have achieved its objectives in partially deterring speculators and “bogus” house buyers. It has also bought some sense of orderliness to the housing arena.

We have appealed to the Government to adopt more measures in Budget 2015, especially the increase in stamp duties (entry costs).
The current stamp duty regime can be maintained for the first two properties held, one being for own stay and one for long-term investment. However, stamp duty must be increased for the third and subsequent properties. Our recommendation for stamp duty is as follows:

• First two properties, based on current scale rate;
• Third property – flat 5% of value of property;
• Fourth property – Flat 7.5% of value of property; and
• Fifth property – Flat 7.5% of value of property.

HBA’s proposal will not penalise the majority of the rakyat who can only afford to buy two properties.

HBA is prepared to wait and see the performance of the property market as to whether “speculators and bogus” house buyers will remain to “play” the market. We are sure that our Prime Minister and his advisors are fully aware of the situation and could always expeditiously implement this proposal in Budget 2016 if “speculators and bogus” house buyers were to plague the housing market.
>> Chang Kim Loong is the honorary secretary-general of the National House Buyers Association, www.hba.org.my, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation manned purely by volunteers.

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MRCB shortlisted for incinerator project

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) said it has been shortlisted for the 1,000-tonne-per-day waste-to-energy incinerator project in Taman Beringin, Kepong, which is estimated to cost up to RM800 million. This confirms The Edge Financial Daily’s report on Monday, which quoted industry sources as saying that the group had been shortlisted, together with Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, UEM Environment Sdn Bhd and DRB-Hicom Bhd, beating 29 other competitors.  It is said MRCB will team up with South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem Co to  bid for the concession, which may be for up to 30 years. MRCB chief financial officer Ann Wan Tee was quoted as saying in a Bernama news report yesterday that the group is expected to submit its bid to the government in November. “We are putting our best effort to win the tender. We are ‘fighting’ against other bigger boys as well, let’s see whether we can win it. It is going to be a concession. We do not know how long the government would give the concession [but] to build [the incinerator], it will take three to four years,” Ann reportedly told newsmen after the group’s extraordinary general meeting. MRCB’s tender book stands at about RM1.1 billion for its construction arm and RM1.8 billion for its property arm. On the development of the first parcel of the Kwasa Damansara project, Ann said the land is still under the condition precedent period as the group and Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd are required to get certain approvals. “We are going to have a couple more EGMs  ... because the agreement is quite sizeable,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama. This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 24, 2014. For more information on Building and Construction event, please visit www.asiapacificevents.com

 

Mayland Parkview’s stake in L&G inches closer to MGO threshold

KUALA LUMPUR: Land and General Bhd (L&G)’s largest shareholder, Mayland Parkview Sdn Bhd, yesterday further converted 64 million irredeemable convertible unsecured loan stocks (ICULS) into new shares, bringing its shareholding in the property developer to 307.42 million shares or 30.33% direct stake, another step closer to the 33% mandatory general offer (MGO) threshold.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, L&G said Mayland Parkview had on Monday converted the ICULS into 64 million new shares.

Last Thursday, Mayland Parkview had converted 140 million ICULS into 140 million new shares.

Following the conversion, Mayland Parkview’s holding in L&G rose to 243.42 million shares or 25.9% stake as of last week.

According to L&G’s 2014 annual report, as at July 21 this year, Mayland Parkview controlled 240.371 million or 48.63% ICULS, being L&G’s top ICULS holder.

After the conversions last Thursday and on Monday, involving a total of 204 million ICULS, Mayland Parkview still holds 36.371 million ICULS.

When contacted, L&G chief financial officer Ng Kee Chye said that assuming Mayland Parkview were to convert all its remaining ICULS, its stake would be raised from 30.33% to 32.73%.

As at July 21, Mayland Parkview had 14.73% interest in L&G, according to its annual report.

During L&G’s annual general meeting on Monday, some minority shareholders raised concerns over the possibility of it being taken private should Mayland Parkview’s interest in the company reach 33%, triggering an MGO.

Under Malaysian rules, an offer to acquire the remaining interest in a company must be extended to the other shareholders once the major shareholder or together with parties acting in concert holds more than a 33% interest.

“As long as Mayland Parkview’s shareholding is below 33%, there is no concern about that.

“I can’t answer that on behalf of the major shareholder, but there is no indication from them [to take L&G private] and there was no such discussion,” L&G managing director Low Gay Teck had said.

The five-year ICULS with a coupon rate of 1% per annum were issued on Sept 25, 2013, at nominal value of 13 sen apiece and will expire in 2018.

According to Low, more than 598 million ICULS were issued last year. Up to last week, 450 million ICULS have been converted, with some 140 million ICULS still outstanding.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 24, 2014.



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