Real Estate & Property-UAT

A freehold title enables the owner to hold the property forever. On the other hand, the owner of a leasehold title can only hold the property for a fixed period of time (usually 99 years from the date of the state government issued the title to the first owner) and upon the expiry of leasehold tenure, the property is required to be surrendered to the state government if the owners does not apply to the state government to renew the leasehold tenure of the property.

Category of land use / kategori tanah – type of usage of the land and there are only 3 categories of land use in Malaysia, i.e. agriculture, industry and building. Express condition / syarat nyata – it specifies the condition imposed by the state government as to the nature of usage of the land. For example, if the category of land use is “building” and the express condition specifies that the land can only be used for residential purpose, it means that only the residential building like landed property or condominium can be built on the land. Restriction in interest / sekatan kepentingan – this part will usually specify the restriction as to any dealings involving the land, e.g. the land cannot be transferred without obtaining the state government’s consent to transfer.

The typical consents / approvals are as follows:

1. State government’s consent to transfer due to the restriction in interest endorsed in the title, i.e. the owner cannot transfer to any third party without the state government’s consent to transfer.

2. State government’s consent to transfer due to the acquisition of property by foreigner (individual or company).

3. Economic Planning Unit’s approval to transfer pursuant to the Guideline on the Acquisition of Properties.

An individual title is the title for a piece of land and it is usually issued for landed properties. A master title is akin to an individual title but it is a title issued for the land where high-rise building or mixed-used development is built on. A strata title is the title issued on a subdivided parcel within a high-rise building.

A private land title search is usually conducted to verify the details and ownership of a property whereas an official land title search is a title search certified as true by the land registrar or land administrator and an official land title search is typically required for any official dealings with the land office.

A land title search can be conducted over the counter at the relevant land office. However, the land title details are required for the purposes of conducting a land title search. Similar to the types of title, a title search can be conducted on individual title, master title and strata title.

Yes, a land title search may be conducted based on the address of a property. Firstly, the applicant is required to extract the assessment bill of the property based on the address and thereafter conduct a land title search based on the land title particulars of the property stated in the assessment bill.

The rates of legal fee are the same for a sale and purchase agreement and loan agreement and the rates are as follows:

Consideration/ adjudicated value/ loan amount	Scale of Fees
First RM500,000	1.0% (subject to minimum fee of RM500)
Next RM500,000	0.8%
Next RM2,000,000	0.7%
Next RM2,000,000	0.6%
Next RM2,500,000	0.5%
In excess of RM7,500,000	Negotiable on the excess but shall not exceed 0.5%

0.5% of the loan amount.