Govt seeks public feedback on Residential Tenancy Act

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 24): As the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) plans to enact the Residential Tenancy Act, the Malaysian government has been seeking feedback through a one-month public consultation. 

In an update on the Malaysia Productivity Corp’s (MPC) website, the consultation had been going on since Jan 28, 2022and is expected to conclude by Feb 28, 2022. 

“The aim of the consultation is to get feedback and views from interested parties and [Malaysian] citizens on the proposed enactment of the Residential Tenancy Act. 

“The main objectives of the proposed Residential Tenancy Act are to prepare legal provisions, specifically to protect homeowners’ and tenants’ rights, prepare a uniform template for residential tenancy agreements, create a dispute-resolution institution, specifically, to resolve disputes between parties involved in residential-tenancy transactions,” the updates said.

The MPC updates said affected stakeholders of the planned Residential Tenancy Act include homeowners, tenants, lawyers and property developers. 

According to the updates, a survey had been conducted back in 2019 where it collected 3,119 responses. Of which 1,104 respondents are homeowners and the remaining 2,105 respondents are tenants. 

While many of the suggested actions have already been practiced in the industry, one particular proposal has highlighted certain queries.

The proposal entails that it is the responsibility of the landlord to put the security deposit paid by the renter into a Security Deposit Account, of which the account will be opened and maintained by JPN. 

However, the terms of the Residential Agreement Act is still in discussion as the enactment is in the early stages, said a source from KPKT to The Edge. 

The Residential Tenancy Act has been making substantial headlines since 2020 as Malaysia does not have specific laws governing landlords and tenants. 

Instead, these are various laws such as Contracts Act 1950, Civil Law Act 1956, Distress Act 1951, Specific Relief Act 1950 and Common Law that are currently in place that governs the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants.

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