The Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) must immediately improve the enforcement of short-term accommodation guidelines (STA) to curb the change of use of units in stratified residential buildings without permission

The matter was raised by Penang Island City Council (MBPP) councilor, Lee Kim Noor at the adjournment speech session of the Ordinary Council Meeting No. 10/2021 which was held online through the Zoom Meeting on 25 October 2021.

According to Kim Noor, the law on STA in the state is very clear that stratified residential units cannot be turned into Airbnb unless there is a change of use of the building.

Also raised was the proposal that cases related to the change of use of short-term accommodation and its enforcement be brought to the Strata Management Tribunal Court.

“And in this way, the occupants of the stratified residential building can sleep soundly without having to worry about Airbnb rental in the adjacent unit.

“Furthermore, in the COVID-19 outbreak situation where some parties rented the Airbnb unit as a quarantine place apart from the problem of noise, garbage and damage to common property,” he said.

In the same session, Kim Noor also praised the latest initiative introduced by the local authority, namely the ‘i-Temu’ platform, an appointment system for visitors who wish to meet with the relevant departments in MBPP.

“However, the method (to some extent) hinders the ability of taxpayers because they have to spend to buy quick test kits.

“So, I would like to suggest additional initiatives to the platform (i-Temu) where taxpayers can choose to use hotlines, emails, video calls via WhatsApp (applications) or WhatsApp (messages).

“Each option must be given a complaint reference number and the name of the officer involved along with an email.

“I know that all this has been prepared but the indicators of each complaint are not given due attention,” he explained.

The meeting was chaired by Dato’ Ar. Yew Tung Seang (Mayor of MBPP) through teleconference, attended by Council Members, relevant department heads and senior officials.

Earlier, the Mayor of MBPP, Dato ’Ar. Yew Tung Seang chaired the Ordinary Meeting of the Council by teleconference which was also attended by Council Members, department heads and relevant senior officials.

Source; Buletin Mutiara

Source: Bernama

Penang’s Bukit Kukus paired road, touted to be the highest elevated route in the country, will be partially open to traffic by year’s end.

The road, which rises 55m from the pile caps, links Bandar Baru Air Itam and Relau and hugs the slopes on the southern reaches of the Penang Hill range.

Officially called the Paya Terubong Paired Road, it spans 5.5km, with the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) building a 3.3km stretch.

The remaining 1.4km and 800m stretches are being built by developer PLB Land Sdn Bhd and Geo Valley Sdn Bhd, respectively.

State infrastructure and transport committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the city council’s 3.3km stretch was 96% complete, pending final work on a 1.6km stretch on the main route and a 500m flyover linking Jalan Tun Sardon and Balik Pulau.

Zairil said the road was supposed to be completed last year, but work was delayed due to the movement control order (MCO), five extensions of time (EOTs) due to land acquisition issues, slope stabilisation work, the relocation of utility lines as well as landslide and blasting permits.

Construction work on the road began on Jan 14, 2016, by main contractor Syarikat Yuta Maju Sdn Bhd. The project was put on hold on Oct 19, 2018, following a landslide that killed 13 workers, and resumed on Jan 28 the following year.

The cost of the road is RM545 million, with the city council forking out RM275 million. PLB Land will spend RM150 million for its stretch and Geo Valley will spend RM120 million, a state assembly reply showed.

Zairil said despite the delays, the city council’s cost to build its portion of the road remained at RM275 million.

Zairil added that as of now, PLB’s road building progress was at 15% and Geo Valley, at 12%. He said Geo Valley’s portion was stalled due to an objection hearing, while PLB Land, as a white knight contractor, would build according to its cash flow.

Source: FreeMalaysiaToday.com

About Urban Suites

A commercial property development by Aspen Vintage Sdn. Bhd. (Cosmopolitan Homes) in the established township of Jelutong.  It is easily accessible via Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway and surrounded by abundance of amenities. Urban Suites comprises two 42- storey towers, featuring 596 units of commercial suites.

Find out more about Urban Suites

The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (REHDA) expects the property market to fully recover starting in 2022, given the positive domestic economic outlook.

According to the Property Industry Survey 1H2021 and Market Outlook 2H2021/1H2022, which were released today, 22% and 25%t of the 180 respondents were optimistic about the domestic economic environment and business prospects for the industry in 1H22, respectively.

This was an increase from only six percent and seven percent who were optimistic about the domestic economic environment and business prospects for 2H21, respectively.

According to Rehda president Datuk Soam Heng Choon, respondents were more optimistic about the outlook for 1H22, anticipating a better job market and higher pay.

“If the economic recovery happens, we anticipate that the property industry will also improve. With an improvement in employment, salaries and also job stability, we believe there will be more buyers in the market. This recovery will continue into 2023. We can see from the survey that most of the developers were more optimistic about 2022 than 2021,” he said during a media briefing.

According to the survey, 22% of respondents believe that the property market’s sales performance will improve in 1H22, and 27% expect an improvement in the residential segment.

In comparison, only six per cent were optimistic about sales performance and 10% about residential sector growth in 2H21.

Soam stated that according to the survey, 87% of respondents believe the endemic phase will aid in the recovery of the property market between six and 24 months.

Thirty-six per cent of those polled said they planned to start new projects in the second half of the year while, 64%, said they have no plans to launch due to unfavourable market conditions and unsold inventory.

According to the survey, there will be a total of 9,319 strata, 5,549 landed, and 208 commercial units introduced to the market in 2H21.

87% of respondents who planned to launch early next year expected sales to be 50%or less. Participating in the Home Ownership Programme was one method of increasing sales.

In the surveyed period of 1H21, Only 63 respondents, or 35%, launched their projects during the 1H21 survey period, with the majority of them being residential properties (98.5%). There were 3,955 apartment/condominium units launched, with 503 sold, and 3,142 two- to three-story terraced houses launched, with 2,312 sold.

The majority of units were launched in Puchong and Klang. However, the majority of units sold were in Shah Alam and Klang.

In the first half of this year, 45.1% of residential units launched were priced between RM250,001 and RM500,000.

According to Soam, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the performance of primary market property sales under the HOC improved in 2020 compared to 2019.

Source: NST Online

Ayana Residence, a proposed affordable housing development by Jayamas Property at Teluk Air Tawar. Situated off Lorong Seri Tawar 1, adjacent to a wide green paddy field. It is just a stone’s throw away from Pantai Robina Eco Park, about a 10-minute drive away from Penang Sentral. There are three public schools located within walking distance, namely SMK Teluk Air Tawar, SJK Air Keow and SK Teluk Air Tawar.

This development will see the construction of a 12-storey building with 4 levels of car parking podium. Features 96 affordable units with a standard built-up size of 850sq.ft, 12 units per floor.

READ MORE ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING:

• Full list of affordable housing in Penang
• Eligibility and the requirement of buying affordable housing

Project Name : Ayana Residence
Location : Teluk Air Tawar
Property Type : Affordable housing
Tenure: (to be confirmed)
Built-up Size: 850sq.ft.
Total Units : 96
Indicative Price : RM250k (affordable housing price)
Developer : Jayamas Property

DISCLAIMER: This article is solely based on research done using publicly available data. This is not an advertisement. Any claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a project or service should be verified with the developer, provider, or party in question.