Penang’s rent control proposal on pre-war buildings moves to the second stage

PENANG (Sept 23): The legal aspects on the rent control proposal on pre-war buildings in George Town have been approved at the state level, said Penang state exco for Housing and Town & Country Planning Jagdeep Singh Deo.

He was speaking to reporters at the fourth Malaysian Secondary Property Exhibition (Maspex) in Penang after the opening ceremony today.

“We are now at the second stage whereby we are engaging with the stakeholders to find out the number of people who are really affected by the increase in the rental rates. Remember, we are not saying that [the landlords] cannot increase rental rates, just that they cannot increase it exorbitantly,” said Jagdeep.

“The state government needs to preserve the living heritage and ensure they do not leave just because they cannot afford to pay the rentals,” Jagdeep added.

The state government is considering the move to implement the Rent Control Enactment similar to the Rent Control Act which was repealed in 1997.

Meanwhile, Maspex Penang organising chairman, Michael Geh noted that the Penang secondary market remains strong despite the recent dip in overall transactions. In 1H2016, the secondary market recorded 5,658 transactions valued at RM2.17 billion while in the primary market, only 1,040 transactions valued at RM478 million were recorded.

“This means that the secondary market makes up some 84% of the total transacted units for 1H2016,” said Geh.

Jagdeep added that Penang remains a good place for property investment as there will be many upcoming catalysts in the state.

“We are seeing rapid growth at Penang mainland. Batu Kawan is just one of the examples. The Penang Transport Masterplan will be an additional huge catalyst to Penang’s growth as well,” he said.

“I think now is a good time to invest in properties [in Penang]. I believe the four-day Maspex event is showcasing a number of properties below the price range of RM300,000. The prices will only increase in the years to come,” he added.

Maspex Penang this year will showcase some 5,000 units of properties featured by real estate agents. There will also be various talks by industry experts on the Penang property market including a talk on opportunities in the sub-sale market in Penang by TheEdgeProperty.com, which is also the media sponsor for the event.

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