Govt may review policies on property purchase by foreigners

PETALING JAYA: The government may amend the regulations on the purchase of property by foreigners, in the wake of a controversy surrounding the Forest City project in Johor.
According to a report in Nanyang Siang Pau today, the Housing and Local Government Ministry will soon present a report to the Cabinet which will decide whether the policy on foreign ownership of property should be reviewed.
It is understood that the Forest City controversy has prompted the ministry to come up with very clear guidelines on projects involving foreign developers and foreign buyers.
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin told the daily in an interview published today that the ministry will submit a report on its meetings with Forest City's stakeholders to the Cabinet for a decision on the rules and requirements related to foreign ownership of property in Malaysia.
She disclosed that she and her officers were scheduled to meet representatives of Forest City master developer Country Garden Pacificview Sdn Bhd (CGPV), Johor state government and Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) on Sept 3 to get details of the multi-billion -ringgit project, but due to the short notice, only officials from IRDA were present at the Monday meeting.
"Nevertheless, we have scheduled another meeting on Sept 14 to get the updates on the project," she said.
She said at the upcoming meeting, the ministry will request for information on the background of the project, its objectives, ownership quotas, work progress and the number of units sold, among others.
Zuraida said a report will then be presented to the Cabinet.
"The Cabinet can study and amend the policy on foreign ownership of property in Malaysia (if it is deemed necessary)," she said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whose recent remarks that foreigners would be barred from buying property in Forest City raised a controversy, clarified on Tuesday that Chinese nationals can buy Forest City units but they will not be issued residential visas to live in Malaysia.