THE STAR. 14TH JULY: Continuous efforts should be made to bring down the cost of home ownership in the country, says the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Malaysia.
“The increase in legal fees for property-related transactions compounds the potential inflationary effect of the fees, in which homebuyers will be affected not only by the increase in fees from the rising prices of properties but also by the increase in the percentage of fees collected,” it said.
Rehda was responding to the increase in legal fees under the newly revised Solicitors’ Remuneration Order (SRO 2023) that was gazetted on Wednesday and is set to be effective tomorrow.
“Rehda will continue to encourage our members to uphold our nation-building role of providing quality, affordable homes for the rakyat in a timely manner,” it added.
The changes will affect transactions involving non-contentious matters such as the sale and purchase of movable and immovable properties, financing and tenancies.
The changes also enable property transactions from licensed housing developers to automatically get up to a 50% reduction in fees, depending on the value.
In 2005, the Solicitors Remuneration Order 2005 (now replaced by SRO 2023) was approved by the SCC as a guideline to regulate the legal fees for conveyancing matters.
Conveyancing basically covers non-litigation (non-court) work that includes sale and purchase agreements, tenancy agreements, lease agreements, transfers, loans and assignments.
Meanwhile, real estate agent Chan Ai Cheng said the increase in legal fees is minor and has little impact on business dealings.
“In comparison to the property price itself, the increase in legal fees has a relatively minor impact,” she said.
“From a buyer’s perspective, any increase in cost is unwelcomed.
“However, it is important to recognise that the property purchase process involves an ecosystem of players, including developers, financiers, lawyers, and real estate agents,” she added.