74
Property
Quality pledge may boost costs
T
he government is revising the urban construction legal
framework with public consultation on the draft law running until October 9. Among the proposals are
doubling the warranty period for a building’s foundations, concrete structure and infrastructure to 10 years, and a fi ve-year warranty for waterproofi ng. Developers fear the proposed
rules will increase construction costs by forcing them to guarantee the quality of their work for longer. Other proposals are for
fi nes ranging from MOP5,000 to MOP200,000 for illegal construction projects and fi nes of up to MOP20,000 for putting steel bars or cages on the outside walls of buildings, a very common practice in Macau.
buyer’s income and the loan period should not extend past the borrower’s normal retirement age. The new measures are supported by
developers. Legislator Fong Chi Keong, chairman of the Macau Association of Building Contractors and Developers, said he was in favour and pointed to a need to regulate real estate agencies to fi ght property speculation as an im- portant part of any package to tackle speculators. Association president Tommy Lau
Veng Seng also applauded the measures. Mr Lau, who is also a legislator, said the
Make that a triple T
land auction could be a good way to pro- vide affordable fl ats. But not everyone agrees with the
need for the measures. Last month, the president of the
Macau General Real Estate Associa- tion, Chong Sio Kin, insisted that the growth in property prices was “healthy”. He noted that prices in Macau were still lower than they were before the global fi nancial crisis, unlike prices in Hong Kong, Beijing or Shanghai, where new property prices
records have already
been set. Legislator Lee Chong Cheng
he government has decided to more than triple the size of the two public housing towers under construction in Seac Pai Van in Coloane. The economic
housing development will have 360 fl ats instead of the 117 originally planned. The 66-metre-high towers will have a total fl oor area of 2,684 square metres
and are expected to be ready by 2012. This is the fi rst phase of the Seac Pai Van project. The development is
planned to have 6,800 public housing units accommodating up to 22,000 people. The government builds two varieties of public housing: economic housing that is meant to be sold, and social housing that can be rented.
slammed the new measures, saying they were insuffi cient. Mr Lee, who is a rep- resentative of the powerful Macau Fed- eration of Trade Unions, wants more re- strictions on foreigners investing in the local real estate market.
Middlemen in the sights Effective immediately, the government will improve transparency in the market by issuing more detailed information more swiftly, and by promising regular monthly announcements. There are more changes planned,
backed by new legislation. Housing tax regulations will be changed,
lowering
the rental property tax to the same rate as the residential property tax in an ef- fort to stimulate the local rental market. A draft law will be sent to the Executive Council this month. Another law, to regulate pre-con-
struction sales, is to be drafted. It would cover the registration system and man- date certain terms and conditions for contracts. A draft is scheduled to be ready next year.
OCTOBER 2010
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