Buying an Older Property in Malaysia: Loan Tenure, Valuation and What Gets Rejected
The rule everyone quotes about an old property loan in Malaysia – that building age plus loan tenure cannot exceed some number – is published by nobody. It appears in no Bank Negara Malaysia instrument, no bank product disclosure sheet and no reputable guide I could reach. What is published is narrower and more useful: a 35-year maximum tenure, a bank practice of not lending beyond age 70, and a valuation mechanism that is what actually decides most older-property loans. This article separates regulation from unpublished bank policy, and shows what a valuation shortfall costs in cash.
Short answer
No bank and no Bank Negara Malaysia instrument publishes a ‘building age plus loan tenure’ rule, so do not treat it as arithmetic. What is published is a 35-year maximum tenure and a bank practice of not lending beyond age 70. On older stock the real constraint is valuation: banks lend on the lower of price and valuation, and the gap is cash.
Key numbers at a glance
| Age-plus-tenure formula | Not published by BNM, any bank or any reputable guide |
|---|---|
| Maximum housing loan tenure | 35 years (BNM, July 2013) |
| Age limit | Not beyond age 70 (bank policy; the shorter applies) |
| 3rd and subsequent housing loan | 70% LTV (BNM, 3 Nov 2010; counts outstanding facilities) |
| Valuation shortfall | Bank lends on the lower of price or valuation; the gap is cash |
| Minimum remaining lease | None published; '40 years' (example) vs 'under 30 years' (law firm) |
| Section 73 certificate | Fee capped at RM50; conclusive evidence of parcel debts |
| Who inherits arrears | Private subsale buyer does; court-auction buyer does not (HC, 15 Jul 2026) |
| Valuation fee | LPPEH Seventh Schedule; minimum RM400 on the improved-value scale |
Key points in 30 seconds
- No ‘building age + loan tenure’ formula is published by BNM, by any bank, or by any reputable guide – treating it as arithmetic is a mistake.
- What is published: BNM’s 35-year maximum housing loan tenure (July 2013) and a bank credit policy of not lending beyond age 70, whichever bites first.
- The real constraint on old stock is valuation. Banks lend on the lower of price and valuation: at RM550,000 price, RM500,000 valuation and a 90% margin, the loan is RM450,000 and the buyer finds RM100,000 in cash, not RM55,000.
- No minimum remaining lease is published anywhere. Two citable sources conflict – the Bar is cited using ’40 years or less’ as an example, one law firm says lenders get reluctant below 30 years – so record both and ask your bank before paying a deposit.
- Strata arrears follow the parcel: a private subsale buyer inherits them, a court-auction buyer does not (High Court, 15 July 2026, which may be appealed). Get the section 73 certificate – fee capped at RM50 – before you sign the SPA.
The 'building age plus loan tenure' rule is not published by anyone
This is the most important paragraph on the page. The widely repeated formula – that building age plus loan tenure cannot exceed 50, 60 or 70 years – does not appear in any Bank Negara Malaysia housing instrument. BNM’s measures are the 70% loan-to-value cap on a third and subsequent outstanding housing facility (3 November 2010), the 60% cap for non-individual borrowers (December 2011), and the tenure caps of July 2013. None of them mentions building age.
Nor does any bank publish it. The closest published statement I could find is Maybank’s own FAQ: ‘Financing tenure is up to 35 years or age 70.’ The same bank declines to publish a maximum margin at all. No product disclosure sheet, no set of terms and no reputable guide reached states a building-age cap or an age-plus-tenure formula. So do not run your numbers off a formula nobody publishes.
Regulation versus bank policy – this table is the point
| Item | Status | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 70% LTV on the 3rd and subsequent housing facility | BNM regulation (3 Nov 2010) | Counts your outstanding housing facilities, not properties owned |
| 60% LTV for non-individual borrowers | BNM regulation (Dec 2011) | Company buying residential property |
| Maximum 35-year housing tenure | BNM regulation (Jul 2013) | BNM publicly refused to extend it to 40 years in 2016 |
| Not beyond age 70 | Bank credit policy, on top of the 35 years | In practice the lower of 35 years and (70 minus your age) |
| 90% margin on a 1st or 2nd home | Bank practice, not a rule | BNM says first and second home financing follows each bank’s own credit policy |
| Debt service ratio (DSR) bands | Each bank’s own | BNM prescribes no percentage |
| Building-age cap / age-plus-tenure formula | Published by nobody | Absent from BNM, from banks and from reputable guides |
| Minimum remaining lease | Published by nobody | Bank by bank – see below |
What a shorter tenure actually costs
If a bank shortens your tenure because of building age or your own age, the cost shows up in the instalment. Malaysian housing loans are priced as SBR plus a spread, and the SBR is linked solely to the Overnight Policy Rate, currently 2.75%. The table below uses SBR + 0.45% = 3.20% as an illustrative rate – not a market quote, since your spread is whatever your letter of offer says – on a loan of RM378,000.
| Tenure | Monthly instalment | Total repaid | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 years | RM1,497 | RM628,846 | RM250,846 |
| 30 years | RM1,635 | RM588,501 | RM210,501 |
| 25 years | RM1,832 | RM549,626 | RM171,626 |
| 20 years | RM2,134 | RM512,262 | RM134,262 |
Cutting the tenure from 35 years to 20 adds about RM637 a month and saves about RM116,584 in interest. A shorter approval is therefore not automatically bad news – what matters is whether the higher instalment clears the bank’s DSR and whether your cash flow carries it. See DSR, CCRIS and CTOS.
How a panel valuer treats an old block
On older stock the loan almost never fails on a tenure formula. It fails on valuation. The valuation is done by a registered valuer on the bank’s approved panel, regulated by the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers (LPPEH/BOVAEP) under Act 242 – the same regulator as estate agents.
What a valuer actually works from
- The documented factor list: physical condition and layout, land area and built-up size, accessibility and surrounding amenities, recent comparable transactions from JPPH, proximity to infrastructure such as rail, expressways and malls, and security features.
- The three factors buyers most want a rule for – building age, remaining lease, and transactions in the same block – are a different matter, and I have to be honest about it: no Malaysian valuation-practice source I could reach sets them out as a published methodology. They show up in how comparables are chosen. So treat them as what valuers work from in practice, not as rules.
- For the same reason I will not quote Malaysian Valuation Standards clause numbers, depreciation tables or a ‘remaining economic life’ formula. The MVS text was not reachable, and the worked examples that dominate search results for that phrase are foreign appraisal material that does not apply here.
Two structural reasons an old block values low
- The comparables lag. Valuers work from JPPH transacted data, which is reported to run three to six months behind the market. When prices are moving, the valuation trails the asking price as a matter of course.
- The bank’s ‘indicative value’ is not a promise. StarProperty quotes James Wong of VPC Alliance estimating that roughly 30% to 40% of indicative values exceed current market value. That is one valuer’s estimate from 2018 – I give you the source and the year so you can weigh it yourself.
What the valuation costs
LPPEH publishes a scale of fees in its Seventh Schedule. The capital valuation on improved value – the scale an ordinary house or condominium falls under – runs at 1/4% on the first RM100,000, 1/5% on the residue to RM2 million, 1/6% on the residue to RM7 million and so on, with a minimum of RM400 per property. A separate, higher scale applies to valuations for the Securities Commission, the Central Bank and plant and machinery, with a minimum of RM2,000.
The surprise on an older unit is usually not repairs, it is the valuation shortfall. At a RM550,000 price, a RM500,000 valuation and a 90% margin, the cash you need goes from RM55,000 to RM100,000 – RM45,000 more, and it typically surfaces after the SPA is signed, when walking away costs you the deposit. An indicative valuation before the deposit costs a few hundred ringgit or nothing at all. See what walking away costs.
Ask Louis directly
Send me the address, the building age and the title details of the older unit you are looking at and I'll check the remaining lease, list the management documents to request, and tell you exactly what to ask the bank before you pay a deposit.
I'll put together a free pre-deposit checklist for that specific unit: what to read off the title, which documents to request from the management body, and the exact questions to put to the bank in writing.
Valuation shortfall: what the gap costs you in cash
The mechanism is one sentence: the bank lends on the lower of the purchase price and the valuation. The gap does not come out as a slightly smaller loan – it comes out as cash you find on top of the deposit. This is the single calculation buyers of 20-year-old stock get wrong most often.
Example one – the documented one (StarProperty)
- Agreed price RM550,000, bank valuation RM500,000, margin 90%.
- Loan = 90% x RM500,000 = RM450,000.
- Cash required = RM550,000 – RM450,000 = RM100,000.
- Had the valuation matched the price, the loan would be 90% x RM550,000 = RM495,000 and the cash only RM55,000.
- So a RM50,000 shortfall costs RM45,000 in extra cash. At a 90% margin, every RM10,000 of shortfall adds about RM9,000 to what you must find.
Example two – a Johor Bahru price point, recomputed
| Scenario | Loan | Cash required |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation matches price, 90% margin | RM405,000 | RM45,000 |
| Valuation RM420,000, 90% margin | RM378,000 | RM72,000 |
| Valuation RM420,000, third housing loan (BNM 70% cap) | RM294,000 | RM156,000 |
That third row is worth pausing on. BNM’s 70% cap counts your outstanding housing facilities – the third and above – not the number of properties you have ever owned. Settled loans drop out of the count, but a joint facility sits on both borrowers’ profiles and counts against both. See the 70% third-loan rule.
Check transacted prices before you make an offer
- NAPIC Open Sales Data (Data Transaksi Terbuka) is free and covers residential, commercial and industrial transactions, with a Data Visualisation page and a Permohonan Data request channel.
- Its limit matters here: it is a dataset, not an address lookup. It is not searchable by address or development, so it will not tell you what the unit next door fetched. Third-party portals make the same JPPH data searchable and are a convenience layer, not an independent source.
- As an anchor, NAPIC’s Malaysian House Price Index Q1-Q2 2026P gives average transacted prices (not medians) of RM506,317 nationally, RM489,881 in Johor and RM825,282 in Kuala Lumpur. Those are state averages, not the price of your block. See valuation and transacted prices.
Short remaining lease: both views on the record
A lot of 20-year-old stock is leasehold. Before anything else, read the expiry year off the title, work out the remaining term, and then work out how many years remain when the loan matures – that second number is the one a lender looks at.
- There is no BNM rule and no bank publishes a threshold. StashAway (12 August 2026) puts it squarely: there is no single Bank Negara Malaysia rule requiring every lender to use the same remaining-lease cut-off, and each lender weighs the lease at approval, the lease at loan maturity, the valuation and the borrower’s profile under its own policy.
- The two figures in circulation conflict, so here are both. One: StashAway reports the Malaysian Bar using ’40 years or less’ as an example of a lease short enough for lenders to be reluctant – an example, not a threshold. Two: Low and Partners (last modified 20 August 2026) advise applying to extend once the remaining lease is under 30 years, because banks become reluctant below that.
- There is no citable leasehold-versus-freehold price discount. The commonly repeated 15-25% range is rejected as unsubstantiated by StashAway, and no Malaysian price study quantifying it could be found, so this page publishes no percentage.
Extending a lease is surrender and re-alienation, not 'renewal'
The National Land Code has no lease extension provision. The mechanism is surrender and re-alienation: s.197 (surrender of title to the State), s.204B (the State Authority’s power to approve surrender with simultaneous re-alienation) and s.76 (alienation for a term not exceeding 99 years). The registered proprietor may apply at any time, with no minimum waiting period. For a strata scheme the developer or the management body applies for the whole block and all parcel owners share the premium.
| State | Instrument | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| Kuala Lumpur | Federal Territory Land Rules 1995, Part 3, Rule 9 | Expired lease: premium = 1/4 x the government-determined land value. Unexpired: 1/4 x land-use category rate x land value x 1/99 x (new term minus unexpired term). Land value is set by JPPH from current market transactions |
| Selangor | Selangor Land Rules 2003, s.7 | Leases are topped back up to 99 years, so 10 years remaining means paying for 89. A restricted route also exists at RM1,000, with a Registrar’s Caveat barring resale (family transfers still allowed) |
| Johor | Not found | No published Johor premium formula could be found – not on PTG Johor’s site and not in any secondary source. Do not apply the KL or Selangor formula to a Johor property; ask PTG Johor or the district land office |
On timing, Low and Partners put it at roughly six months to two years depending on the authority. And approval is discretionary, never automatic: the State weighs current land value, area, locality, the years requested and its own policy. For the wider comparison see freehold versus leasehold.
Maintenance arrears follow the parcel: the section 73 certificate
On an older strata unit this section may matter more than the loan. Section 73 of the Strata Management Act 2013 (in force 1 June 2015) requires that, on a request by a solicitor acting for a buyer or a seller, the management body (JMB, MC or subsidiary MC) issues a certificate stating the amount due from the parcel owner, for a fee not exceeding RM50. It covers maintenance charges, sinking fund, insurance and quit rent arrears and is treated as conclusive evidence of the total debts due on that parcel.
- This is the single most important pre-contract step on old strata stock. Get the section 73 certificate before the SPA, not after.
- A private subsale buyer does take over the previous owner’s arrears; a court-auction buyer does not. In Perbadanan Pengurusan Megan Avenue 1 v Harjinder Singh (High Court, decided 15 July 2026) the court held that a successful bidder at a court-ordered auction does not inherit historical strata arrears, because ‘successor-in-title’ contemplates voluntary transactions while an auction buyer takes by operation of law. It distinguished Brightvite v Pantai Towers, which held that a private contract buyer does assume past strata debts. Sections 60(4) and 61(4) of the SMA 2013 were discussed.
- It is a High Court decision and may be appealed. Everything here is the position as at September 2026; have your lawyer confirm the current status before you sign.
- Assessment tax (cukai taksiran) arrears behave differently again – local-authority debt attaches to the property. I have only a single secondary source on that and have not checked it against a council by-law, so I list it as a question for your conveyancer, not as a statement of law.
Auction purchases have their own process and risks – see buying at auction (lelong). For how the charges themselves are set, see maintenance fees and the sinking fund.
Want to see what you can actually buy?
The rules are above; these are the actual homes. Each page lists the projects I am tracking, with published price ranges and the date each figure was checked. Tell me the area on WhatsApp and I will send the current list.
Old walk-ups and low-rise blocks with no management body
A common problem in 20-year-old low-rise stock is that there is neither a JMB nor an MC. How big is the problem? The only published figure is for Selangor: as at 12 August 2026, 310 strata schemes covering 35,817 units in Selangor had neither a JMB nor an MC, with causes cited as poor fee collection, weak governance, low owner awareness and unresolved developer handover. No equivalent Johor figure exists, so do not extrapolate one.
The Commissioner of Buildings can step in
- Where the developer fails to convene the JMB’s first AGM, the Commissioner may appoint a person to convene it (SMA 2013, s.18(5)).
- Where no joint management committee is formed, the Commissioner may appoint a managing agent under Part VI (s.19(2)).
- Section 86 provides separately for the appointment of a managing agent by the Commissioner. The COB sits in each local authority – MBJB, MBIP, MBPG and MPKu around Johor Bahru.
As for how a bank or valuer treats a building with known structural defects – no Malaysian source (BNM, a bank, LPPEH, KPKT or a law firm) states it, so this page makes no claim about it. What you can do is commission your own building inspection and read the last two AGM minutes and the sinking fund balance. The developer’s 24-month defect liability period applies to new HDA purchases and is long gone on 20-year-old stock – see inspection and the DLP.
The checks to do before paying the earnest deposit
- 1. Ask the bank first, and get it in writingAsk the loan officer to confirm in writing the maximum tenure and margin for that building age and that project, and whether the remaining lease is acceptable. A verbal ‘no problem’ is not an answer.
- 2. Get an indicative valuationBefore the deposit, not after the SPA. If the valuation comes in under the price, the gap is cash – run the arithmetic in section three first.
- 3. Read the title: type, remaining term, restrictionsFreehold or leasehold? How many years left? Any restriction in interest (Sekatan Kepentingan)? A restriction means state consent, and the completion clock usually starts only when consent comes through.
- 4. Get the section 73 certificateThrough your solicitor, from the management body, for a fee capped at RM50. A private subsale buyer inherits the previous owner’s arrears, so this happens before the SPA.
- 5. Read the management documentsThe last two AGM minutes, the latest audited accounts, the sinking fund balance and the overall arrears rate. If there is no management body, establish who is insuring the building.
- 6. Pay for your own building inspectionOn old stock, look hard at water marks, wiring, plumbing, the basement car park and the lift lobbies. No published rule says how a defect changes a loan, but it will change your renovation budget.
- 7. Total every one-off cost before you negotiate the depositStamp duty, legal fees, the valuation fee, renovation – plus any valuation shortfall. Know the total before money moves.
One-off costs on a 20-year-old subsale unit
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Earnest deposit | Typically 2-3% on the offer, topped up to 10% at the SPA | Market convention, not statute |
| Stamp duty on the transfer (MOT) | 1% on the first RM100,000; 2% on RM100,001-500,000; 3% on RM500,001-1,000,000; 4% above RM1,000,000 | On the higher of price or market value |
| First-home exemption | 100% on the MOT and the loan agreement for a first home up to RM500,000, for SPAs executed 1 Jan 2021 to 31 Dec 2027 | Applies to subsale too; not to a commercial-title unit |
| Stamp duty on the loan agreement | 0.5% of the loan amount | Exempt for first-time buyers on the terms above |
| Legal fees (SRO 2023) | 1.25% on the first RM500,000 (minimum RM500), 1% on the next RM7 million | The 50% HDA discount does not apply to a subsale – it is a developer-purchase concession. Disbursements and 8% SST are extra |
| Valuation fee | LPPEH Seventh Schedule; minimum RM400 on the improved-value scale | Which scale applies to a bank panel valuation is unresolved – ask for a written quote |
| Completion period | 3 months plus a 1-month extension, late interest usually 8% a year | On a leasehold or restricted title the clock usually starts only on state consent |
- The bank has confirmed in writing the maximum tenure and margin for this building age and project.
- I have an indicative valuation and have calculated my cash on the lower of price and valuation.
- I know the ‘age plus tenure’ formula is published by nobody, and nobody has used it to pressure me either way.
- Title type, remaining lease and any restriction in interest are confirmed, and the consent timeline is written into the contract.
- The section 73 certificate was obtained before the SPA (fee capped at RM50).
- I have read the last two AGM minutes, the audited accounts and the sinking fund balance.
- The building inspection is done and the renovation budget is in my total.
- Every one-off cost – stamp duty, legal fees, valuation, any shortfall – is totalled and my cash covers it.
Related questions
Why do subsale loans on older properties get rejected?
In my experience it is rarely ‘the building is old’ as such. It is usually one of three checkable things: the valuation comes in under the price and the buyer cannot fund the gap; the remaining lease at loan maturity is too short for that lender’s unpublished policy; or the DSR fails, which gets worse when a shorter tenure pushes the instalment up. A fourth category is the collateral itself – unclear arrears, no management body. All of it is checkable before the deposit. See why home loans get rejected.
Can I ask the bank to revalue if the valuation comes in low?
You can approach another bank and get a different panel valuer, but a bank overturning its own panel valuer’s report is uncommon. In practice there are three routes: renegotiate the price with the seller, take the file to another bank for a fresh valuation, or fund the gap yourself. Watch the clock – a subsale completion period is typically three months plus a one-month extension with late interest around 8% a year, so a revaluation eats time you may not have. Get an indicative valuation before the deposit instead.
What are the one-off costs on an older subsale unit?
Earnest deposit (typically 2-3%, topped up to 10% at the SPA), MOT stamp duty (1% on the first RM100,000, 2% to RM500,000, 3% to RM1 million, 4% above), 0.5% loan agreement duty, legal fees under SRO 2023 (1.25% on the first RM500,000, minimum RM500, plus disbursements and 8% SST), the valuation fee, plus any valuation shortfall and renovation. A first home up to RM500,000 is fully exempt from both duties for SPAs executed to 31 December 2027, and that applies to subsale. Full list: total buying costs.
Which management documents should I ask for on an old condo?
Four of them: the last two AGM minutes, the latest audited accounts, the sinking fund balance, and the overall arrears rate. Together they tell you whether the building can afford to fix its lifts and waterproofing, and how many owners are not paying – which drives your future holding costs and how easily you can resell. Separately, get the section 73 certificate (fee capped at RM50) for what this specific parcel owes. These documents cost nothing or almost nothing; not reading them is the expensive choice.
Frequently asked questions
Does building age affect loan tenure in Malaysia?
It affects bank decisions, but not through any published formula. The ‘building age plus loan tenure cannot exceed X’ rule appears in no BNM instrument and in no bank product disclosure sheet. What is published is a 35-year maximum housing loan tenure (BNM, July 2013) and a bank credit policy of not lending beyond age 70, with the shorter applying. Banks do adjust tenure and margin for older buildings under unpublished internal policy that varies by lender, so get the bank’s answer for that specific building in writing before paying any deposit.
What happens if the bank valuation is lower than the purchase price?
The bank lends on the lower of price and valuation, and the gap becomes your cash. On a RM550,000 price with a RM500,000 valuation at a 90% margin, the loan is RM450,000 and you need RM100,000 rather than the RM55,000 you would need if the valuation matched. A RM50,000 shortfall therefore costs RM45,000 in extra cash. Your options are to renegotiate the price, try another bank’s valuer, or find the money. Best of all, get an indicative valuation before you pay the earnest deposit.
What is the minimum remaining lease banks accept in Malaysia?
None is published. StashAway (12 August 2026) states plainly that no Bank Negara Malaysia rule requires lenders to use a common cut-off; each weighs the lease at approval, the lease at loan maturity, the valuation and your profile under its own policy. Two figures circulate and they conflict: the Malaysian Bar is cited using ’40 years or less’ as an example of a lease lenders may baulk at, while Low and Partners put the point of reluctance below 30 years. Know both, then ask the bank you intend to use.
Do I inherit the previous owner's maintenance fee arrears?
In a private subsale, yes. In the Megan Avenue 1 decision of 15 July 2026 the High Court held that a buyer at a court-ordered auction does not inherit historical strata arrears, distinguishing Brightvite v Pantai Towers, under which a private contract buyer does assume past strata debts. It is a High Court decision that may be appealed, so this is the position as at September 2026. The protection is simple: have your solicitor obtain the section 73 certificate, fee capped at RM50, before the SPA.
Can I get a loan on a block with no JMB or MC?
No source says banks refuse, so nobody should tell you flatly that they do. What is certain are two concrete gaps. First, with no management body there is no section 73 certificate, so neither your solicitor nor the bank can establish what is owed on the parcel. Second, nobody is discharging the statutory duty to insure the whole building, which is what the bank’s fire-insurance requirement sits behind. The Commissioner of Buildings can step in under ss.18(5), 19(2) and 86 to convene a meeting or appoint a managing agent.
Where can I check what an older property actually sold for?
NAPIC’s Open Sales Data (Data Transaksi Terbuka) is free and covers residential, commercial and industrial transactions, with a Data Visualisation page and a Permohonan Data request channel. It is a dataset rather than an address lookup, though – not searchable by address or development – so it will not give you the unit next door. Portals resurface the same JPPH data in searchable form as a convenience layer. As an anchor, NAPIC’s Q2 2026P average transacted prices are RM489,881 in Johor and RM825,282 in KL.
Can a short leasehold be extended, and what does it cost?
You can apply, but approval is discretionary. The mechanism is not ‘renewal’ – it is surrender and re-alienation under the National Land Code (ss.197, 204B and 76). Premium formulas are published in only two places: Kuala Lumpur under the Federal Territory Land Rules 1995 Rule 9, and Selangor under the Selangor Land Rules 2003 s.7, which also offers a restricted RM1,000 route with a caveat barring resale. No published Johor formula could be found – ask PTG Johor or the district land office. Expect roughly six months to two years.
Sources & verification
- Bank Negara Malaysia — Measures in Promoting a Stable and Sustainable Property Market (3 Nov 2010; 70% LTV on the third outstanding housing facility)
- Bank Negara Malaysia — Responsible lending guidelines ensure borrowers' affordability (20 Sep 2016; 35-year tenure cap)
- Maybank — Home2u / HouseZ FAQ (financing tenure up to 35 years or age 70)
- Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers (LPPEH) — Scale of fees, Seventh Schedule
- StarProperty — What happens when bank valuations are lower than negotiated prices (21 Jan 2018)
- PropertyGuru — What is a property valuation in Malaysia
- NAPIC — Open Sales Data / Data Transaksi Terbuka
- NAPIC / JPPH — Malaysian House Price Index Q1–Q2 2026P
- StashAway — Freehold vs leasehold property in Malaysia (12 Aug 2026; no BNM remaining-lease rule)
- Low and Partners — Leasehold property extension or renewal (last modified 20 Aug 2026)
- EdgeProp — Be mindful of the certificate under section 73 of the Strata Management Act (2 Oct 2020)
- Burgie Law — High Court: auction purchaser not liable for historical strata arrears (15 Jul 2026)
- Malay Mail — High Court rules strata auction buyers need not inherit previous owner's arrears (15 Jul 2026)
- The Star — 310 Selangor strata schemes still without JMB or MC (12 Aug 2026)
- Low and Partners — Strata Management Act 2013, Part 1 (Commissioner of Buildings powers, ss.18(5), 19(2), 86)
- Bank Negara Malaysia — Standardised Base Rate (SBR + spread = the rate on your loan)
- BIS — BNM Deputy Governor on the 2010–2013 property measures (13 Nov 2014)
Verified: 2026-09-20. This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and rates change — confirm in writing with your lawyer, bank or the relevant authority before you sign.
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Louis Koh
11 years in Malaysian property · Johor Bahru & Kuala Lumpur · English & 中文
I help local buyers and cross-border buyers from Singapore with new and subsale property. Every figure in these guides is sourced; when a rule changes, I update the page and date it.
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Louis Koh · 11 years in Malaysian property · +60 10-906 6685 · replies 9am–10pm MYT