The government will consider developers’ appeal to allow them to continue building luxury properties priced at RM1 million and above in selected locations in major cities, said Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar.

He said a ministry-level committee will be set up to consider appeals and that the matter would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Noh (photo) stated the measure was taken after the government received feedback from stakeholders such as the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda) to reconsider the government's decision to temporarily freeze new applications by developers to build shopping complexes, office buildings, service apartments and condominiums priced at RM1 million and above from Nov 1.

"The Cabinet has appointed five ministers, including me to discuss and handle issues related to the freeze.

We met last week and relayed the decision to consider the developers’ appeals to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for his consent. The prime minister agreed and asked me to disclose this to the media today.

“So, developers who want to appeal, must apply to the ministry and the approval depends on the criteria of existing housing condition, the number of houses in a particular area, house prices of RM1 million and above, how many houses have not been sold as well as existing requirements,” he told reporters after receiving a courtesy call from Mauritius Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Local Government Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo at his office today.

In addition to Noh, the Cabinet also appointed Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani (photo), Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Works Minister Fadillah Yusof to sit on the committee.

On Nov 19, Johari said the Cabinet decided to freeze the construction of condominiums and commercial premises worth RM1 million and more to offset supply and demand of real estate in the country on Nov 1 after scrutinising a Bank Negara report that there was an overflow of luxury projects which had outstripped the market demand for affordable homes.

Johari said the freeze would be temporary, to review development strategy so that it does not affect the country’s economy.

Bank Negara reported that there were 130,690 unsold residential property units in the first quarter of this year, with 83 per cent of these unsold units being in the above RM250,000 price category indicating supply-demand imbalances in the property market.

- Bernama