How other cities worldwide tackle their Airbnb problems are being studied to see if the home-sharing business could be legalised or regulated in Penang.

The office of the Penang State Exco for Tourism Development, Arts, Culture and Heritage (Petach) is studying their policies to tackle the issue of residential home owners who rent out their units as if they were running a hotel or serviced apartment.

Its exco member Yeoh Soon Hin (pic) said the global home-sharing business was quite established in Penang now that when people buy a house or condominium unit, someone might approach them and offer to guide them to sign up with Airbnb and make money from their new property.

He told the assembly that Penang Global Tourism had met with Airbnb’s management team to discuss how to regulate the business.

“Airbnb told us that they are ready to cooperate and register Airbnb units in Penang with the local authority, but we have no laws or policies for this yet,” he said.

Yeoh said in San Francisco, Airbnb operators are limited to renting their homes to a maximum of 90 days a year.

“In Catalonia, Spain, Airbnb operators can be fined up to 30,000 Euros (RM140,000) and the unit owners fined up to 90,000 Euros (RM420,000) if there are complaints.

“In Singapore, the Urban Redevelopment Authority is proposing to limit Airbnb units to only allow up to six people each time to rent them and for only up to 90 days a year.

“For strata units, Singapore plans to allow it only if at least 80% of all unit owners in the building give consent.

“Japan enacted a law to allow home-sharing of units for only up to 180 days a year,” he said when replying a question from Daniel Gooi Zi Sen (PH-Pengkalan Kota).

Gooi said he was concerned because despite strong enforcement from Penang Island City Council since 2017 to stop residential property owners from using their units commercially, the Airbnb portal lists thousands of units in Penang.

“We cannot deny property owners from benefitting from their assets, but we also cannot let them continue to operate without paying their dues such as commercial assessment rates or the hotel fee,” he said.

Yeoh said Petach was studying how Airbnb operators are regulated while waiting for the federal government to draft laws on home-sharing.

“We raised the issue and were told that the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry are studying possible laws on this.”

Yeoh said the business was unfair to neighbours, the hotel industry and local authorities.

“They are paying assessments and utility rates for residential units but are using those units commercially while legal hotels that comply with all laws such as safety and traffic provisions pay much more.

“The peace and privacy of their neighbours are being intruded upon,” Yeoh said.

He said his team in Petach was also considering the possibility of recommending that Airbnb operators be charged double or triple the current residential assessment rates that they are paying now after they are legalised.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Part of the highway under the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) project that would pass through the City Park in George Town, Penang, will be in the form of a 250m-long cable stay bridge.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said studies had shown that such a design would have very minimal impact on the surroundings with the beams only erected outside the vicinity of the park.

He said the bridge would also help reduce the need for beams required for the section which goes through the park.

Chow was replying an oral question from Jason Ong Khan Lee (PH-Kebun Bunga) who asked if the state would reconsider the alignment at City Park under PIL 1.

“The cable stay bridge has been incorporated in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report as part of a mitigation plan to assess the impact on the environment.

“The bridge proposal had been deliberated and assessed by the Department of Environment before the conditional EIA report was approved by the department,” said Chow at the state assembly sitting on Monday.

He said the state decided on the bridge after studying different types of structure and design for the City Park section of PIL 1.

The state received the EIA approval for PIL 1 with 56 conditions early this month.

The controversial RM7.5bil highway project stretches 19.5km between Gurney Drive and the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway near the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Phase lV.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Malaysia has recorded a total of 32,313 units of unsold completed residential properties in 2018 valued at about RM19.8 billion. This is a 30.6% increase from 24,738 units recorded in 2017, according to the National Property Information Centre’s (Napic) Property Market Status Report for 2018.

The highest number of unsold completed units came from Johor with 6,066 units, a 38.6% y-o-y increase from 4,736 units in the previous year. These unsold units are worth RM4.6 billion.

Perak has the second highest number of overhang units last year with 5,367 units unsold compared with 2,276 units in 2017, worth RM1.6 billion.

Selangor registered 4,693 unsold units in 2018, up from 3,713 units. They are worth some RM4.2 billion, making it the state with the third highest number of overhang units.

Penang came in fourth with 3,502 unsold units with an estimated value of RM3 billion. However, this is a decrease of 10.57% from the 3,916 units that was recorded in the preceding year.

Following closely is Kedah with 3,311 unsold homes, worth RM889 million. The state too saw a drop from the 3,783 unsold units recorded in 2017.

Kuala Lumpur was next as the capital city saw a rather large spike in unsold properties with 2,769 units valued at RM2.7 billion from just 929 units previously.

Meanwhile, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan recorded 1,405 and 1,046 unsold units worth RM500 million and RM 610 million respectively.

Melaka has a total of 759 unsold units (worth RM268 million) while Terengganu has 402 unsold units (worth RM139 million). Kelantan and Perlis both have low numbers of unsold properties with 139 and 65 units only.

In East Malaysia, Sarawak recorded 1,412 units of unsold homes worth RM612 million while Sabah has 1,377 units of unsold homes with a value of RM579 million.

Source: EdgeProp.my

Located in southwest district of Penang island, Botanica.CT is a self-sustaining 300-acre garden township development by MTT Properties Sdn. Bhd. in Balik Pulau. Once being known as a home to an aging population, Balik Pulau has embraced urbanization in the past few years with modern amenities mushrooming within the vicinity.

Perfectly suited to a refined and relaxed living in the island, the township is surrounded by lush greenery and natural streams flowing from nearby hills. It also offers a wealth of amenities all within close proximity, including F&B outlets, markets, hospital and Prince of Wales Island International School (POWIIS). Future development will feature a medical centre, hotel and retirement resort.

Perfect Homes for Growing Family

Botanica 5 is the fourth residential component in the garden township of Botanica.CT. It features 58 freehold semi-detached homes and bungalows located within close proximity to the Prince of Wales Island International School.

The homes feature elegant facades combined with modern architecture. Its interiors are tastefully designed for comfort with stylish layout designs and well-defined family areas as well as cosy bedrooms complemented by modern appliances, top quality fittings and exquisite finishes. Built-up sizes ranging from 3,000 sq.ft. to 3,500 sq.ft. on land area measuring 3,000 sq.ft. to 7,100 sq.ft.

Completed with Completion and Compliance Certificate (CCC), the family homes are now ready to move in, equipped with dry kitchen built- in with hob, hood, oven, air-conditioning units for all bedrooms and living room, auto gate, CCTV and alarm system.

Botanica CT Centre

Botanica CT Centre is the first integrated commercial development in Botanica.CT, strategically located at the intersection of Jalan Sungai Rusa and Jalan Sungai Air Putih. It’s within 10 minutes walking distance from Prince of Wales Island International School, about 5 minutes drive to Balik Pulau town centre.

Envisioned to be a prominent commercial centre with TF Value-Mart as anchor tenant, alongside with KFC and Starbucks drive-thru restaurants, Botanica CT Centre will be the catalyst for a better living in Balik Pulau where business can prosper while residents will live with sheer convenience. New linkages to neighboring establishments will also be built to increase business traffic.

Anticipating the growing business activities in this future commercial landmark of Balik Pulau, limited units of double-storey shop offices with contemporary designs and business-friendly internal layout are up for grab. Built-up sizes ranging from 2,800 sq.ft. onwards with a dedicated car park.

The township is easily accessible via several routes, with an estimated 20 km from George Town and 10 km from the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone. With an average density of less than six units per acre and surrounded by a wealth of lifestyle amenities, this is truly a lifestyle sanctuary for a serene country living.

You may visit www.botanica-ct.com.my or call +604-8662399 for more details.

Action will be taken against banks who “deliberately” do not give out housing loans to those who are eligible or who fulfill the criteria.

“If you have difficulty getting loans, refer to MoF (Ministry of Finance),” advised Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, telling homebuyers to escalate their grievances to the ministry.

Lim was speaking at the opening ceremony of the HOC-MAPEX 2019 for the Klang Valley region at Mid Valley Exhibition Centre today.

“If banks refuse to give loans, give us (the ministry) the list names of rejected loan applicants and we will check with the banks. If it’s not justified, we may consider taking action against the banks,” he told officials of the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) who were present at the event.

Lim also reminded banks of their responsibility to not hinder the efforts of the government in ensuring eligible homebuyers are able to secure loans.

“We (the ministry) want the banks’ cooperation to start giving out loans. I will get the list and we will ask the banks to explain. We hope the banks can give their cooperation,” said Lim.

Meanwhile, Rehda president Datuk Soam Heng Choon hopes banks will give the right margin of financing to eligible homebuyers as developers are seeing less than 50% of loans being approved.

Source: EdgeProp.my