LAW REGULATING GATED AND GUARDED COMMUNITIES

Indeed there is currently no law regulating gated and guarded communities unless they are landed strata developments, as verified by prominent legal expert on strata title properties, Lee Kim Noor.

When it comes to gated communities with landed strata titles, the collection of service charges is mandated by the Strata Management Act. When it comes to guarded neighbourhoods with individual titles however, there is no federal law.

There is a state government gazette in Selangor which approves and regulates gated and guarded developments, while the Ministry of Housing has released guidelines on what can be described as gated and guarded.

“The bottom line is there is no law governing the collection of service charges for this type of project except by a contract between the developer and the first purchaser,” says Lee. “After sub sale, the enforcement will be a problem. Without money all the facilities would not be able to be maintained.”

According to the Peninsular Malaysia Town and Country Planning Department, a gated community focuses on a community which lives in landed properties with strata titles.

Guarded neighbourhoods are houses with individual land titles, where the “guarded” factor is not based on the provisions of any law or regulation but exists only on an ‘ad-hoc’ basis with the agreement of residents in a neighbourhood.

Officially, common services such as security and rubbish disposal would be handled by the police and the municipal authorities, since the roads within the development are still public road reserves, unless the residents’ association opts to implement a joint private contract.

Therefore, it would be misleading to market a development with individual titles as a gated community, or “gated and guarded”. It is especially misleading when a developer offers such security services for a certain amount of time only for this precedent not to be followed upon.

Of course, it seems that insult is added to injury when the developer still owns several units and refuses to pay for the shares of these units. The developer would imaginably suffer in the long run, however, as if the development suffers, the value of the developer’s units would also fall.

It would seem as if individually titled developments must be clear about their developments not being “gated and guarded” developments, as well as not promise private security services.

References:
http://www.starproperty.my/
Posted on January 15, 2018  | 12476 views |  Topic : Home & Living, News & Articles, Property News.