The HDA is Malaysia's Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 (Act 118). It regulates developers: building homes for sale needs a licence from the housing ministry, and advertising them needs an advertising and sales permit. Schedules G (landed) and H (strata) of the regulations set the standard sale and purchase agreement, and most of your protection as a new-launch buyer is written into that agreement.
Every project page on this site shows its permit number and where it came from, so you can check it yourself. See every Johor Bahru project →
| Item | What Schedule H says |
|---|---|
| Handover deadline | Statutory form: vacant possession within 36 months of the agreement date (clause 25(1)). Some condo projects state 48 or even 60 months; your own agreement governs |
| Late delivery compensation | 10% a year of the purchase price, calculated day by day (clause 25(2)) |
| Defect liability period | Defects appearing within 24 months after handover must be repaired by the developer (clause 30(1)) |
| Payment schedule | 10% on signing, the rest in stages as construction progresses (Third Schedule) |
The housing ministry's formula is: days late × purchase price × 10% ÷ 365. Its own example is a unit priced at RM300,000 delivered 100 days late, which gives RM8,219.18.
| Stage | Share |
|---|---|
| Signing | 10% |
| Work below ground level, including foundations | 10% |
| Structural framework | 15% |
| Walls with door and window frames | 10% |
| Roofing or ceiling, electrical wiring, plumbing and telecoms trunking | 10% |
| Internal and external finishes, including wall finishes | 10% |
| Sewerage works | 5% |
| Drains | 2.5% |
| Roads | 2.5% |
| Handover, with water and electricity ready for connection | 17.5% |
| Handover, with the transfer and original strata title delivered to you | 2.5% |
| Paid at handover and held by the developer's solicitor: 2.5% released at 8 months and 2.5% at 24 months after handover | 5% |
The last 5% is held by the developer's solicitor and released in two parts, 8 and 24 months after handover. The defect liability period also runs for 24 months after handover.
The housing ministry's Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims (Tribunal Tuntutan Pembeli Rumah):
Check whether your sale and purchase agreement follows the Schedule H form. The protections above are clauses of Schedule H itself. Read the schedule of your agreement before you sign; I'll go through it with you. For how serviced apartments and condos differ, read Serviced apartment vs condo in Malaysia.
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