How to Check a Property Developer in Malaysia: Licence, APDL & Red Flags
To check a property developer in Malaysia, search KPKT’s free TEDUH portal for the developer’s licence and advertising & sales permit (APDL), then check whether the company appears on the ministry’s ‘sick’ or abandoned project lists. This is the order I run through with clients before anyone pays a booking fee.
Short answer
To check a property developer in Malaysia, search KPKT’s free TEDUH portal for the company’s developer licence and advertising and sales permit (APDL), then check it against the four alert lists: sick projects, abandoned projects, unpaid compounds and ignored Tribunal awards. A project counts as ‘sick’ when it is more than 30% behind schedule or past its vacant possession date. Pay only into the HDA account named in your SPA.
Key numbers at a glance
| Governing law | Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 (Act 118) |
|---|---|
| What a developer must hold | Developer's licence plus advertising and sales permit (APDL) |
| Where to check | KPKT TEDUH: teduh.kpkt.gov.my (free) |
| 'Sick project' (projek sakit) | More than 30% behind schedule, or past the VP date |
| TEDUH alert lists | Sick, abandoned, unpaid compound, ignored TTPR award (4 lists) |
| Where your payments go | The project's Housing Development Account (HDA), named in the SPA |
| Developer's HDA deposit | 3% of the estimated construction cost |
| Tribunal (TTPR) claims | Up to RM50,000, RM10 fee, file within 12 months |
Key points in 30 seconds
- Housing projects under the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 (Act 118) need both a developer’s licence and an advertising and sales permit, each with a validity date.
- Regulation 6 of the 1989 Regulations lists what every ad must show, including both numbers and validity dates, land tenure and restrictions, expected completion date and prices.
- KPKT classes a project as ‘sick’ (projek sakit) when it is more than 30% behind schedule or past its vacant possession date.
- TEDUH’s developer alert lists cover four categories: sick projects, abandoned projects, unpaid compounds and ignored Homebuyer Tribunal awards.
- Your instalments should go only into the Housing Development Account (HDA) named in the SPA, never to a personal account.
Why check a property developer in Malaysia before you book?
Buying off-plan means paying now for a home you receive two or three years later. You are buying the developer’s ability to deliver, not just the unit. The statutory sale and purchase agreement (SPA) gives buyers real protections, such as liquidated damages for late delivery (LAD) and a 24-month defect liability period (DLP), but compensation only helps if you can actually collect it.
In 11 years of practice, the problems I see most are not developers vanishing overnight. They are slippage: collecting money before the permit is out, facilities quietly shrinking, and construction falling far behind. Most of these leave traces you can find before booking.
How do I check a developer licence and APDL?
In Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan, residential developments fall under Act 118. To sell legally, a developer needs two documents, together called the APDL (Advertising Permit and Developer’s Licence):
| Document | Malay name | What it allows | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Developer’s licence | Lesen Pemaju Perumahan | The company may carry out this housing development | Licence number, validity date, that it covers this project |
| Advertising and sales permit | Permit Iklan dan Jualan | The developer may advertise and sell units | Permit number and validity; it is issued for the ad content submitted to KPKT |
Regulation 5 of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989 says no advertisement or sale may be made without an advertisement and sale permit first being obtained. The permit applies to the advertisement as submitted; materially different marketing needs a fresh permit.
What must a developer's advertisement show?
Regulation 6(1) lists the particulars every ad must carry. The main ones:
- Developer’s licence number and validity date
- Advertisement and sale permit number and validity date
- Name and address of the developer (and any approved agent, power of attorney holder or project management company)
- Land tenure: for leasehold, the expiry date; plus any restriction in interest (sekatan kepentingan) and encumbrances
- Project name and the expected completion date
- Selling price of each unit type (minimum and maximum where applicable) and the number of units of each type
- The authority that approved the building plans and its reference number
If a flyer, social media ad or showroom board has no licence or permit number at all, treat that as a warning in itself. For a walkthrough of looking up the licence number, see my page on checking the KPKT developer register.
The expensive part is not the check, it is paying first. A booking fee handed over before the advertising and sales permit exists sits outside the statutory SPA: it is not held in the project’s Housing Development Account, and there is no clear statutory refund route. If the project is later listed as sick or abandoned, you chase a company, not a regulated account. See booking a new property.
Ask Louis directly
Send me the project name, the developer's full company name and the licence and permit numbers from the advertisement, and I will run the TEDUH check with you.
I will put together a free one-page summary: the project's TEDUH record, the licence and permit validity dates, and a list of that developer's recently completed projects you can go and look at yourself.
Using KPKT's TEDUH portal to check progress and blacklists
TEDUH (Transforming & Empowering Data Usage in Housing) is the public portal of KPKT’s National Housing Department (Jabatan Perumahan Negara). You can search by developer name, project name or project code, and filter by state, district or town.
- Open teduh.kpkt.gov.myGo to the ‘Perumahan Swasta’ (private housing) section.
- Search the developer and projectMarketing names often differ from the registered company name. The SPA and permit use the company’s full name, so search both.
- Check the project statusLook for a ‘sakit’ (sick) or ‘terbengkalai’ (abandoned) flag.
- Check the developer alert listsUnder ‘Peringatan Pemaju’, choose a list category and generate the PDF.
- Cross-check the sales materialCompare the licence and permit details on TEDUH with the ad and the draft SPA.
| Category (Malay) | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Projek Sakit | Sick project: per KPKT, more than 30% behind the planned schedule, or past the vacant possession date |
| Projek Terbengkalai | Abandoned project (licensed and unlicensed developers) |
| Gagal Membayar Kompaun | Developer has not paid a KPKT compound (fine) |
| Ingkar Award TTPR | Developer has ignored an award of the Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims |
The 30% definition of a sick project comes from KPKT’s own FAQ. The legal definition of an abandoned project (such as 6 months of continuous stoppage) and the rescue process are covered in abandoned housing projects.
What is the Housing Development Account (HDA)?
Under the Housing Development Account regulations, buyers’ payments for an off-plan project go into a dedicated Housing Development Account for that project, and the developer can withdraw only for the purposes the regulations allow. The developer must also deposit 3% of the estimated construction cost, and the Controller can pay Tribunal awards out of the account.
- The SPA names the HDA bank and account number: check it character by character before paying
- Never transfer money to an agent’s or salesperson’s personal account
- If anyone asks you to pay into ‘another account’, call the developer’s solicitors first
- Keep every bank receipt and ask the developer for an official receipt
For what you pay at each construction stage, see the progressive payment schedule.
How to judge a developer's track record and finances
A licence proves a developer is legal, not that it is good. These are the checks I suggest:
| What | Where | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Company details and finances | SSM e-Info (ssm-einfo.my; paid, company profile from about RM15.40) | Paid-up capital, directors, registered charges, multi-year financial comparison |
| Listed developers | Bursa Malaysia announcements and annual reports | Unbilled sales, borrowings, any disclosed project delays |
| Completed projects | Visit 3 to 5 projects handed over 3–5 years ago | Facade, lifts, common facilities; health of maintenance fee and sinking fund |
| Delays and disputes | TEDUH lists, the Tribunal, news reports | Late delivery, LAD disputes, resident complaints |
| The land | A title search at the land office | Whether the land is charged to a bank (common for developer financing), restrictions, land-use category |
When I visit older projects, I look at years 3 to 5 after handover. By then the defect liability period has ended, and build quality and management standards show. Ask the guards and residents; they are more candid than a show unit.
New homes are sold on statutory SPAs (Schedule G/H, or Schedule I/J for build-then-sell) that developers cannot rewrite at will. See Schedules G, H, I and J explained.
7 developer red flags
- No licence or permit number on the ad, or a number past its validity date.
- Collecting money before the permit is issued, often as ‘registration of interest’. If an EOI fee is ‘refundable’, get the refund terms in writing.
- Asking you to pay into a personal account or anything other than the HDA account.
- An expected completion date that does not match the SPA’s delivery period (24 months landed, 36 months strata), or a salesperson who cannot explain it.
- Sick or abandoned projects on TEDUH for the developer or its group, or ignored Tribunal awards.
- Very large rebates, ‘all costs covered’ packages with side agreements, or guaranteed rental returns. Banks lend on the net price after rebates (a BNM rule).
- Vague land details: unclear freehold or leasehold status, Bumi quota or restrictions, residential or commercial title.
What if problems show up after you have paid?
If a project starts slipping, do not panic and do not stop paying your bank (missed instalments go on your CCRIS record). Work through these steps instead:
- Keep evidenceFile the SPA, every receipt, progress bills and architect’s certificates, and take dated photos of the site regularly.
- Write to the developerAsk in writing for the current progress and the expected handover date.
- Organise with other buyersA buyers’ group with a few representatives gets further with the developer and KPKT than scattered individual complaints.
- Complain to KPKTKPKT can list the project as sick and follow up; serious cases move into the abandoned-project rescue process.
- Claim at the TribunalClaims such as LAD of up to RM50,000 can go to the Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims (TTPR) for a RM10 fee, filed within 12 months of the CCC, the end of the DLP, or termination of the contract.
For how LAD is calculated and when it starts, see LAD and extensions of time. For filing, see the Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims.
A 15-minute developer checklist before booking
- Photograph the licence and permit numbers on the ad or hoarding and note the validity dates
- Search TEDUH for the developer’s full company name and the project name
- Check the company and its parent on TEDUH’s alert lists
- Ask for the draft SPA; check the HDA account, delivery period and land details
- Look up the company on SSM e-Info or Bursa announcements
- Visit one of the developer’s recently completed projects
- Get the booking fee refund terms in writing
- Have your own lawyer look over the papers before you sign
More checks you can run yourself are on my developer risk checks page. Still deciding between new and resale? Read new vs subsale property.
Related questions
How long does it take to check a developer before booking?
The basic check takes about 15 minutes and costs nothing: search the full company name and the project on TEDUH, run the four alert lists, and match the licence and permit numbers against the advertisement. To go deeper, an SSM e-Info company profile starts from about RM15.40 and shows paid-up capital, directors and registered charges, and listed groups publish Bursa announcements. The part that takes real time is visiting a project handed over three to five years ago, and it is usually the most useful hour you will spend.
Can I get a booking fee back if the developer has no permit yet?
Regulation 5 bars any advertising or sale before the advertisement and sale permit is obtained, and Regulation 11(2) bars collecting any payment outside the statutory SPA, so money taken as a ‘registration of interest’ before the permit exists is already irregular. Recovering it, though, depends on what you have in writing rather than on an automatic statutory remedy. Fix the refund terms, the deadline and who holds the money on paper first. See booking a new property.
What is the difference between a 'sick' project and an 'abandoned' project?
‘Sick’ (projek sakit) is KPKT’s progress classification: more than 30% behind the planned schedule, or past the vacant possession date, but still a live project. ‘Abandoned’ (terbengkalai) means work has stopped continuously for six months or more beyond the agreed period, or the developer is wound up, in receivership, or has told the Controller it cannot finish, which triggers the official rescue process. TEDUH lists the two separately. See abandoned housing projects.
What should I look for in an SSM company search?
An SSM e-Info company profile starts from about RM15.40, and four things are worth the money: paid-up capital measured against the size of the project, the directors and whether they turn up on other troubled projects, registered charges showing which bank the land is pledged to, and a multi-year financial comparison. For listed groups, add Bursa announcements on unbilled sales, borrowings and disclosed delays. Search the subsidiary named on this project, not just the parent brand.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if a developer is licensed in Malaysia?
Search the developer’s full company name or the project name on KPKT’s TEDUH portal (teduh.kpkt.gov.my) and check the licence number and validity date. The same licence number and validity date must also appear on the developer’s advertisements under Regulation 6 of the 1989 Regulations. If the two do not match, ask the developer why before paying anything.
What is APDL in Malaysian property?
APDL stands for Advertising Permit and Developer’s Licence. Under Regulation 5 of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989, a licensed developer may not advertise or sell housing units until it has an advertisement and sale permit from the Controller. Both the permit and the licence carry numbers and validity dates that must appear on ads.
What is a 'sick' housing project?
KPKT classes a private housing project as sick (projek sakit) when work is more than 30% behind the planned schedule or the project has passed its vacant possession date. Sick projects are listed publicly on the TEDUH portal under the developer alert section, so you can check before booking.
Where can I find KPKT's developer blacklist?
On TEDUH, open ‘Peringatan Pemaju’. There are four lists: sick projects, abandoned projects, developers who have not paid compounds, and developers who ignored Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims awards. Pick a category and generate the PDF. Check the project company and its parent group.
Which account should I pay a developer into?
Pay instalments only into the Housing Development Account (HDA) named in your SPA. It is a project-specific account, and the developer can withdraw only for purposes allowed by the regulations. Never pay a salesperson’s or agent’s personal account, and confirm any change of account with the developer’s solicitors.
Is a big listed developer always safe?
Not automatically. Large groups build through subsidiaries, and the licence belongs to the subsidiary named on the project. Check that company’s licence and permit, look at the group’s disclosures on Bursa, and visit projects handed over three to five years ago to see how they have held up.
Sources & verification
- KPKT National Housing Department — FAQ (definition of sick projects)
- TEDUH — KPKT private housing data portal
- Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989, regs 5–6 (HBA copy)
- HHQ — Advertisement Permit and Developer's Licence
- PropertyGuru — What Is APDL
- SparkSpark Finance — KPKT developer blacklist
- SSM e-Info
- CLKM Law — Abandoned housing projects (HDA account)
- KPKT — Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims
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.
Stuck on this step? Ask me directly
Send me your situation — new or subsale, budget, state, and where you are in the process — and I will tell you what to do next and what to watch for.
I will put together a free one-page summary: the project's TEDUH record, the licence and permit validity dates, and a list of that developer's recently completed projects you can go and look at yourself.
Louis Koh · 11 years in Malaysian property · +60 10-906 6685 · replies 9am–10pm MYT