Foreigners with residency are exempted from RM1 Million Property Floor Price
Since 2009, Malaysia has changed to become the country with probably the most open property market in Asia. In June of that year Malaysia replaced its central government’s foreign investment committee (FIC) approval for property purchase by non-citizens with the new EPU Guidelines (EPU). This made it quicker and easier for overseas buyers to own a house here. The housing industry celebrated the change in rules as a triumph of business over bureaucracy.
Since 2009, Malaysia has changed to become the country with probably the most open property market in Asia. In June of that year Malaysia replaced its central government’s foreign investment committee (FIC) approval for property purchase by non-citizens with the new EPU Guidelines (EPU). This made it quicker and easier for overseas buyers to own a house here. The housing industry celebrated the change in rules as a triumph of business over bureaucracy.
Under the previous FIC rules, an overseas person buying a house here had to go through a two or sometimes multi stage process applying to both federal and state governments for permissions before he could proceed with his sale and purchase. Now under EPU he needs to only make a single application to the land authority in the State in which the property is located for approval to buy. There is no more need for an overseas buyer to apply to the federal government if he wants to buy, sell or mortgage a property in Malaysia.
According to EPU a foreigner can buy as many units and types of property as he wants so long as each property he buys is over RM500,000 in price.
Perhaps the most significant and ironically also the least known aspect of EPU is that it recognizes the special status of non-citizens with residency rights such as Permanent Residents (PR), Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) residents and expatriate employment pass holders (DP 10) to buy and own a home in Malaysia.
Under EPU, these foreigners with appropriate residency papers are exempted entirely from the property floor price set for foreigners.
Come this 1 January 2014 the Government has said that it will raise the floor price from RM500,000 to RM 1 Million to protect local people from the voracious appetites of foreign buyers whose sole objective of owning a house here is to sell it for a profit.
Logically then, the exemption from floor price for foreigners with residency rights should continue since people who buy a home here to live, send their children to school and pay taxes should be treated as locals and not foreigners.
Kerk Boon Leng
