Compensate house buyers adequately for late delivery

NSTP 12/03/2002 By S.C. Hooi Kuala Lumpur

I WISH to applaud the efforts made by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and the House Buyers Association to amend the law to protect future house buyers. I hope the Ministry will look into claims on Liquidated Ascertained Damages filed by house buyers.

Many house buyers I have spoken to lately encountered a similar fate when dealing with housing developers on this issue.

Is it standard practice for the developer to compensate only 50 per cent of the actual claim to the house buyer? If it is, why is it not mentioned in the Sale and Purchase Agreement? Developers seem to think that they always have the upper hand.

To add insult to injury, developers are adamant in penalising purchasers with late charges when the financiers are late in disbursing their payment to the developer.

I feel that purchasers are entitled for the full compensation in the event of late delivery, and I hope that the Ministry could look into this issue.