Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – From the beginning of next year, Malaysia will implement five housing reform policies to build an accountable and high-integrity housing ecosystem, while promoting the development of the real estate industry and ensuring the rights of buyers.
Speaking at the Madani Housing Reform Ceremony on November 20, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming said the reforms aim to protect buyers, enhance housing system efficiency and move towards a world-class digital housing ecosystem.
Under the new policy, Malaysia will adopt a more proactive approach by moving from a manual management system to a digital system, from a closed process to a transparent, modern and data-driven management. Through this new ecosystem, every housing project can be planned, monitored and completed in a more systematic manner, thereby contributing to strengthening market confidence in the real estate sector.
The five reforms comprise legislative enhancement including the introduction of a new law — the Property Development Act; an electronic Sales and Purchase Agreement (eSPA); the Housing Integrated Management System (HIMS); Transforming and Empowering Data Usage in Housing (TEDUH); and audits of the Housing Development Account (HDA).
On HIMS, he said it was an integrated digital platform that regulated the entire housing development lifecycle, from project registration and progress monitoring to sales and handover.
Through HIMS, all financial transactions — including consultant payments, legal fee claims under the Bar Council, vendor dealings and transactions with financing institutions — are now recorded and processed digitally, transparently and in an auditable way. This ensures all project inflows and outflows remain within regulatory control and traceable at all times, he said.
Regarding the implementation of HDA audits, the official said the Government was committed to ensuring there would no longer be any abandoned private housing projects by 2030, and to ensure the reforms were truly effective, the authorities would strengthen audit enforcement by the National Housing Department to ensure all purchasers’ funds were channelled into legitimate accounts. “
If a developer fails, their accounts will be frozen immediately. All these measures serve one main purpose — to ensure every sen paid by buyers is used to complete their homes, he said./.
