THE Government, particularly the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT), is proposing to table the Residential Tenancy Bill (RTA) soon at the Dewan Rakyat.
For the uninitiated, the Bill is being proposed to govern and regulate relationship between landlords and tenants in a rental arrangement for private residential premises.
At the outset, the Bill has several commendable clauses such as the establishment of a tribunal to mediate dispute between landlords and tenants (as in the housing/consumer tribunal) as mitigation process in courts may be too costly.
However, the National House Buyers Association (HBA) pointed out to FocusM several areas of concern which was noticed in the KPKT’s report entitled “Cadangan Kajian dan Penggubalan Akta Sewaan Kediaman” (Proposed Survey and Drafting of the Residential Tenancy Act).
One is that the two-month security deposit – which is usually held by landlords – will now be parked in a yet to be named Government agency if the law is passed.
Page 36 of the report (under clause B) stated that the newly-minted Comptroller of Residential Tenancy would be authorised to manage the security deposits – parked under a neutral agency – to ensure that the authorities would be able to address any conflict between landlords and tenants later on.
“The security deposit will be returned to the tenants once the tenancy agreement expires provided there are no expenses which needs to be deducted from the sum,” noted the report. “If there are any dispute, the matter will be referred to the tribunal.”
Another source of contention in the report was that the survey only reached out to 3,119 respondents (page 20) out of the 32.4 million strong population of Malaysia as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Feb 14.
In a nutshell, the sample size was only reflective of 0.009% of the total population in the country!
Compounding to the problem is that out of the 3,119 respondents, 2,015 or 65% of them were tenants (the balance 1,104 were landlords), indicating that the survey may be skewed towards tenants’ interest.
Limited information
On the hindsight, it is worth noting that the survey on the proposed law is still ongoing and would only end on Feb 28.
Click here for the survey.
When contacted, HBA secretary-general Datuk Chang Kim Loong cast aspersions on the survey done by the KPKT, adding much data was not revealed in the report.
“I had a glimpse of the proposed draft RTA Bill and I can say that there are some incomprehensible sections of the said legislation,” he told FocusM. “I dare say it cannot be accepted by the man in the street.”
For starters, he urged the Government to reveal the demographics of the respondents such as whether the survey covers the cross section of the T20, M40 and B40 groups.
He added the survey also did not indicate whether those interviewed covered both local landlords and foreign owners.
“Can we also know whether the survey was carried out in rural and urban composition of owners and tenants?” Chang queried.
He further remarked: “Be serious. Is this meagre group of 3,119 respondents – in all sincerity – a clear representation of all owners and tenants throughout Peninsula Malaysia? Do we honestly think that a survey of this sort us can be considered holistic enough to justify creating a new law to cover the whole Peninsula Malaysia?” – Feb 22, 2022.
