Mixed-developments to see unfair charges
On May 22, leave to appeal to the Federal
Court was rejected and the Court of
Appeal’s decision remains intact which
means that a joint management body
(JMB) is not allowed to apply different
rates of charges despite having
different components and common
facilities given exclusively to a certain
component.
By Datuk Chang Kim Loong
COLUMNIST
With the said decision, we foresee
there will be a large disruptive impact
to a mixed development with multiple
components, since now every owner
is to pay a “single rate” to the JMB
regardless of whether you enjoy or have
access to the common facilities or not.
This is utterly unfair especially to lowand
medium-cost parcel owners who
are unable to enjoy or have access
to the facilities used by the high-end
owners in cases where there is one
single JMB on a mixed development.
A strata owner should only pay for what
he is entitled to use
We at the National House Buyers
Association (HBA) are steadfast and
unwavering in our views that there
should be variable rates for mixed
development schemes.
Mixed developments involve issues
extending beyond the mere use of
parcels and the factors enumerated
in the formula contained in the First
Schedule of the Strata Management
Act 2013 (SMA 2013).
There are situations where even
between parcels of the same use and
with the same characteristics, the costs
of maintaining such common areas
could still vary.
This is because certain common
property including facilities in such
mixed-use strata development may
not be shared in use equally by the
components in a strata development
(that is: there is exclusivity of use
of certain designated parts of the
common property to only one or
more components but not all the
components).
Furthermore, the Court of Appeal’s
decision fails to appreciate the
differences between en bloc parcel
(a block with a single strata title) and
multiple parcels (a block with multiple
strata titles).
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