PEPS: Residential Tenancy Act unnecessary

• PEPS president Subramaniam Arumugam: Micromanaging the real estate sector in this sector in this manner, particularly through a government bureaucracy, may not align with investor-friendly policies. There is this fear that such measures could drive away investors and hinder the overall property investment climate in the country.

SKUDAI (Jan 19): The proposed Residential Tenancy Act is deemed unnecessary as the current system is operating well, according to PEPS president Subramaniam Arumugam, in his opening address at the 16th Malaysian Property Summit 2024 organised by the Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Consultants in the Private Sector Malaysia (PEPS) in Johor on Thursday (Jan 18).

This is the first time the summit is held outside the Klang Valley and attracted about 300 delegates to the Paradigm Mall Convention Centre, Johor Bahru. The theme this year is “Proptech, Big Data and High-Impact Projects: Building the Future of Real Estate”. Speakers spoke on the Johor property market, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, high-impact projects, government support and the growth of the data centre market.

Subramaniam said, “The proposed Residential Tenancy Act by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) is viewed as impractical and totally unnecessary for the industry. The proposed Act, which is aiming to micromanage landlords' and tenants' affairs, is perceived as imposing constraints on free market practices.

"Micromanaging the real estate sector in this sector in this manner, particularly through a government bureaucracy, may not align with investor-friendly policies. There is this fear that such measures could drive away investors and hinder the overall property investment climate in the country.”

He also highlighted how the Central Database Hub, or Padu, is a “game changer” in the area of subsidies distribution and fair allocation to varying income groups. As such, Subramaniam believes that the Padu mechanism can be used to “revolutionise the landscape of the affordable housing category” to ensure houses built are what the people want and need.

The summit’s guest of honour was the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers (BOVAEP) president and the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) director general Abdul Razak Yusak, who shared about how Johor is an upcoming property hotspot due to the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System, three Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines that will ease congestion in the city, the announcement of the Special Economic Zone and Special Financial Zone in Forest City, as well as Johor being a data centre hub.

He added that strategic collaboration is needed by various stakeholders for both the private and public realm to “ensure an efficient property research, analysis, valuation, assessment and execution”.

Further, as president of BOVAEP, he re-emphasised the full commitment that the professions under the body are well-regulated and that “various policies, rules and actions are being discussed as well as executed to give full confidence in our profession, locally and internationally”.

Johor Bahru’s growth; the use of AI

Some key takeaways from the conference include how Johor Bahru will see strong growth due to infrastructure projects, such as the Rapid Transit System (RTS) from Bukit Chagar to Woodland North in Singapore, according to KGV International Property Consultants executive director Samuel Tan, in his talk on the Johor property market.

He added other infrastructure projects that will add to Johor’s growth include the three LRT lines, which will facilitate people's movement to ease traffic congestion in the state capital, and a double track electrified rail.

Furthermore, the recent memorandum of understanding signing on Jan 11 between Singapore and Malaysia for a special economic zone and financial zone, the proposed high-speed rail, and also the opening of data centres Sedenak Tech Park will all augur well for the state.

While the overhang situation for high-rise units will remain, the volume is reducing, Tan said.

During the panel discussion “Showcase on Game Changer Projects in Malaysia”, MRT Corp project director Zulkifli Mohamed provided an update on the construction process of the RTS, which is 65% complete in Malaysia while on the Singapore side, it is 67% complete.

Zulkifli also highlighted that they are on schedule for completion of the RTS by Dec 30, 2026 and for the trains to start operation the next day, Dec 31, 2026.

Moreover, he added that both Malaysia and Singapore will build a co-located Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex whereby immigration matters on either side are settled within the individual countries for visitors to enter the countries without further immigration procedures.

For the second panel discussion titled “How AI and Predictive Analytics” are changing the real estate market in Malaysia, The Benefits and Challenges, the panellists Provost’s Chair Professor at NUS Business School's Department of Real Estate Professor Sing Tien Foo, Amicus Ptd Ltd CEO William Lai and PEPS Ventures general manager Teh Kim Guan highlighted that using AI to provide information on the property market required “good quality data” for the AI to learn from, to ensure the information provided is accurate and usable.

Both Sing and Lai, who are from Singapore, provided insight to how Singaporean property market data was used in an AI-prototype that provided near accurate information when compared to the actual information on hand.

Teh remarked how good knowledge management is needed and also a steps analysis — where a process is broken down into steps — is needed to see which steps can be automated or use AI to quicken the process.

The panellists all concurred that AI is here to stay and should be used as a tool to help make the process of data analysis more efficient to effectuate better and faster decision making.

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