S & P to give itemised list of expenses

11/12/2002 The Star By Clarence Chua

KUALA LUMPUR: The sale and purchase (S&P) agreement for apartments will now include an itemised list of expenses that will give buyers a better idea of what the maintenance fee actually covers. 

The list involves 26 areas, ranging from cleaning services to security and swimming pool maintenance, and the developer will have to provide purchasers with the estimated monthly and yearly costs for each item. 

This will give purchasers a rough idea of the amount required by the management office to keep the apartments in good order. Purchasers will also be informed of the estimated amount they will have to pay as maintenance fee.  

The list is provided for under the amended Schedule H of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Regulations, which came into force on Dec 1 together with the new Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) (Amendment) Act 2002. 

Any deviation from the terms in the S&P agreement in future will require the consent of the Housing Controller under the Housing and Local Government Ministry. 

Applauding the ministry for its efforts in changing the old regulations, National Housebuyers Association (HBA) chairman Datuk Zainuddin Bachik said this would ensure that there was no abuse of funds. 

“The new regulations also stipulate that the management office must be run by a qualified team and not some inexperienced people. 

“Huge sums of money are collected by developers and there is a need for these accounts to be properly managed and made transparent to unit owners,” he said yesterday at a press conference. 

Zainuddin said developers would have to forward a list similar to that in the S&P agreement to all households monthly, informing them of the actual amounts spent in maintaining the buildings. 

“Maintenance fees will have to be kept at a reasonable amount and not set according to the whims and fancies of the management body,” he noted.  

Management bodies, he added, should also take note that anyone misusing sinking funds could be charged with criminal breach of trust under the new regulations. 

Last year, complaints related to maintenance and management were among the major grouses of housebuyers, making up almost 11% of the total number of complaints received by the HBA.