The government of Johor mulls imposing a development charge on property projects that are carried out in accordance with Section 32 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172).
State Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Abd Latif Bandi revealed that the matter is on its final stage of coordination prior to presenting to Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
He noted that the development charge will be levied on the applicant if the project was approved for the conversion of land use that changed the compactness, density and floor area will increase its value.
The development charge’s purpose is to accommodate provisions to provide and improve public facilities and infrastructure within the area that resulted from the approval of the plan, said Latif after opening the Guidelines on Service Apartment Planning and Mixed Development in Johor 2016.
“The matter is still being discussed and we are taking examples from other states that have long implemented the charge. We expect it to be implemented next year.”
The charge rates will not significantly affect the selling price of property units, but will instead benefit the local authorities, community, state and even the developers, he added.
Commenting on service apartment development in Iskandar Malaysia, Latif said that while 26,677 units were earmarked until 2025, 95,150 units have been completed as at end-Q2 2016, placing a strain on provisions for affordable housing and public facilities.
Mangalesri Chandrasekaran, Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email mangales@propertyguru.com.my
