Before you buy: who may buy what, and where
“A foreigner needs RM1,000,000 to buy in Malaysia” is broadly right and wrong in almost every detail.
The floor changes at every state border; some property is off limits at any price; and clearing the price still leaves you needing written state consent. Three separate gates, all of which have to open.
The federal baseline
The Ministry of Economy’s Garis Panduan Perolehan Hartanah, effective 13 July 2022, says at paragraph 2.3 that a foreign interest buying residential property at RM1,000,000 or above per unit needs no ministry approval — it falls to the state authority.
The same document puts it as a prohibition at paragraph 10.1: a foreign interest may not acquire property valued at less than RM1,000,000 per unit.
“Foreign interest” (paragraph 21) is wider than most people assume: non-citizens, permanent residents, foreign companies, and Malaysian companies where non-citizens hold more than half the voting rights. Holding Malaysian PR does not take you out of it.
State floors I could verify against an official document
| State | Minimum purchase price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Johor | RM 1,000,000 Same floor for landed, strata, commercial and industrial |
Developer projects also carry foreign quota ceilings: terrace and cluster 20%, semi-detached and bungalow 30%, strata 50%. Expressly barred: single and one-and-a-half storey terraces, and terrace shops under three storeys. |
| Selangor | Zones 1 and 2: RM 2,000,000 Zone 3: RM 1,000,000 |
Strata only (including “landed strata”). Zone 1 = Petaling, Gombak, Hulu Langat, Sepang, Klang; Zone 2 = Kuala Selangor, Kuala Langat; Zone 3 = Hulu Selangor, Sabak Bernam. Commercial and industrial RM3,000,000 in all zones. |
| Penang | Island strata RM 1,000,000 Island landed RM 3,000,000 Mainland strata RM 500,000 Mainland landed RM 1,000,000 |
The RM500,000 mainland strata floor applies to individuals only; foreign companies stay at RM1,000,000 throughout. MM2H participants RM500,000, maximum two units; PRs RM250,000. Three-year lock-in from the SPA. |
| Negeri Sembilan | Strata RM 600,000 Landed and landed strata RM 1,000,000 |
Changed in March 2026, revoking circular 3/2024. Industrial RM2,000,000. Bumiputera lots, low and medium-low cost housing and auction purchases all excluded. |
| Melaka | Strata above RM 500,000 Landed above RM 1,000,000 |
Residential must be two storeys or more, commercial three or more; bungalows capped at 8,000 sq ft, semi-detached at 5,000 sq ft. Industrial above RM1,500,000. Applications must be made through a Malaysian solicitor. Heritage zone and customary land are closed. |
| Kedah | RM 1,000,000 | RM250,000 until 2010, then RM500,000, then RM1,000,000 from 1 March 2014. A valuation report is required. |
| Kuala Lumpur | RM 1,000,000 See the note below — this cell is sourced more weakly than the others |
Approved by the Federal Territory land working committee. |
| Perak | No table on this page | Changed in March 2026 (PTG Perak circular 01/2026) into a zone-by-tenure matrix spanning roughly RM300,000 to RM2,000,000. Residential is limited to individuals, maximum two units. The official PDF is a rotated scan and I could not read the individual cells with confidence. Publishing a wrong floor is worse than publishing none. |
Source: PTG Johor (no publication date on the page; read 22 August 2026) · PTG Selangor (Pekeliling PTG Selangor Bil. 1/2014, in force 1 September 2014; page shows Kemaskini 2026-04-02) · PTG Pulau Pinang (PDF) (Dikemaskini 01 Ogos 2024) · Pekeliling PTGNS Bil. 2/2026 (PDF) (signed March 2026, immediate effect) · PTG Melaka (in force 1 January 2014, parts amended 20 July 2016 and 1 October 2022) · Pekeliling PTG Kedah Bil. 1/2014 (PDF) (circular dated 16 October 2014, effective 1 March 2014)
The federal guideline bars anything under RM1,000,000 — yet four states publish strata floors below RM1,000,000.
The reconciling argument is that paragraph 2.3 of the same guideline puts residential property in state jurisdiction, and section 433B gives consent to the states. But paragraph 10.1 carries no qualifying words at all. So how it applies in practice is a question for the state you are buying in, on the day — not something to argue with your solicitor using this page.
The Kuala Lumpur RM1,000,000 comes from a federal open-data record rather than the land office’s own page — ptgwp.gov.my returns an empty body to every automated request. The figure is quoted everywhere, but I could not verify it from the KL land office itself.
For Sabah, the RM600,000 high-rise figure traces only to a Daily Express report of 13 January 2022, not a state document. Sabah and Sarawak run their own land laws (Cap. 68 and Cap. 81); the National Land Code does not apply there, so peninsular rules cannot be carried across.
Medini, the most misreported item in this section
“Medini has no minimum price for foreigners” circulates widely. Here is what checking it actually turns up:
The only traceable source is the master developer describing its own incentives. Iskandar Investment Berhad’s FAQ says qualifying property developers benefit from incentives in Medini including “no minimum ceiling price for foreign purchases”.
That is a master developer describing developer incentives — not a gazetted rule and not a state government document. IIB FAQ, updated 31 January 2024.
State consent is not waived. Johor’s own e-forms list includes a dedicated Form KA.7, “Perolehan Kebenaran Pajakan Tanah Dalam Kawasan Medini” — you still apply, and what you get is a lease, not a registered title.
MOTAC gives no figure either. The MM2H SEZ/SFZ terms say the floor price is “subject to Johor state property acquisition policy”, again without a number.
And resale may hit a wall. The New Straits Times reported on 20 April 2026 that a foreign buyer who bought below RM1,000,000 under special approval can only resell to Malaysians — the example given was a Singaporean who paid RM650,000. I could not verify this from any government document; the report quotes a private consultancy.
So: I am not willing to tell you Medini has a price exemption. If you are going that way, get a written answer from the Johor land office before you pay a deposit.
What no amount of money will buy
| Category | Why | Any exception? |
|---|---|---|
| Malay Reserved Land | Article 89 of the Federal Constitution plus each state’s Malay Reservations Enactment. A total bar on all non-Malays, regardless of citizenship. | Essentially none. No transfer, lease or disposal; no charge except to the Government and scheduled bodies; no caveat may be entered; a power of attorney to a non-Malay is unregistrable. Tenancies of three years or less are valid. Penang, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak have no Malay Reservation enactment. |
| Bumiputera-quota lots | Paragraph 10.4 of the federal guideline. The quota is a state condition imposed when land is alienated, not a single federal rule. | State by state. Johor: possible after a release (pelepasan) from the state secretary’s housing branch. Penang: no exception stated. Quota sizes differ: Penang 30%, Selangor 30–70% per project, Johor at least 40% per house type, Negeri Sembilan 30% or 50%. |
| Low-cost and medium-low-cost housing | Paragraph 10.2 of the federal guideline, with the definition left to each state. | None. Penang goes further and closes medium-cost housing to foreigners and PRs as well. |
| Agricultural land | Closed in principle, with narrow exceptions. | Federal guideline 2.2(b): RM1,000,000 and above or five acres and above, restricted to high-tech commercial agriculture, agro-tourism or export agro-industry, and it must be registered to a local company. Johor and Melaka permit leases only, not ownership. |
| Property at court or bank auction | Section 433B(4), National Land Code: on a sale under order of court (sections 256, 263, 281) a non-citizen or foreign company may not bid for land in the “agriculture”, “building” or “industry” categories without state authority approval. | State authority approval. Penang, Johor, Selangor and Melaka each carry their own express prohibition as well. |
State consent: section 433B
The most underestimated gate of the three. Price cleared and money ready, without this approval the transaction does not legally exist.
- Section 433B(1): any dealing in favour of a non-citizen or foreign company requires prior state authority approval, on written application by the non-citizen or foreign company.
- Section 433C: a dealing that contravenes section 433B is null and void.
- Section 433E(3): the only penal provision — both the disposer and the foreign buyer accepting the property are liable to a fine of not less than RM100,000 (the section states no maximum).
- Section 433G: the levy must be paid in full within 30 days of service of the notice of approval; miss it and the approval lapses.
- Section 433F: an instrument executed under a power of attorney without approval is void and incapable of registration.
- Section 433B(3): no approval is needed to take a charge or lien — so the financing side of the transaction is not caught.
Processing times, from each state’s published client charter: Johor decides at land office level below RM10m in roughly 2–3 weeks, or 1–3 months where a valuation department report is required; above RM10m the Menteri Besar decides. Selangor 4 weeks. Melaka 21 working days at land office level, 30 at chief minister level. Perak 30 days.
Penang, Sabah and Sarawak publish their charters as images, so no figure is given here.
Johor’s forms run KA.1 to KA.7 by the parties involved: individual to individual, company to individual, individual to company, company to company, developer to individual or company, lease by a foreign interest, and KA.7 for Medini.
There is no statutory list of reasons for refusal. Sections 433B(2) and 433E(2) leave the decision entirely to the state authority, with no stated criteria and no duty to give reasons.
In practice refusals land in the table above: Malay Reserved Land, Bumiputera-quota units, low-cost housing, auction property. Melaka states plainly that a rejected application cannot be appealed — you must apply again, and fees are not refunded.
The gap I think matters most, and almost nobody mentions
The statutory Schedule G and Schedule H sale and purchase agreements contain no clause making state consent a condition of the sale.
I read both 2015 statutory forms through. The only mention of state consent is in a costs clause (Schedule G clause 30(3)): the developer bears the cost of applying for “keizinan Pihak Berkuasa Negeri… jika ada”. Nothing addresses what happens if consent is refused.
Which means: when you buy a new build, the statutory contract does not protect you on this point. If consent is ultimately refused, you are arguing frustration under section 57(2) of the Contracts Act 1950 — that is litigation, not a contractual remedy.
The subsale market is where you can actually protect yourself, because the contract is negotiated: state consent can be written in as a condition precedent, with the deposit refundable in full if it is refused. That clause has to go in before signing.
Source: Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989 [P.U.(A) 58/1989], Schedules G and H as substituted in 2015, in force 1 July 2015. On frustration: Wong Kam Ming v Chang Fei Ching [2011] MYSSHC 420 and Ng Kheng Yong v Seng Hup Realty [2004] MYCA 20 — in both, the agreement was held frustrated after the land authority refused consent.
Title: freehold, leasehold, and how to read one
An assumption worth losing first: freehold is not the Malaysian default. Section 76 of the National Land Code alienates land for a term not exceeding 99 years. “In perpetuity” is the exception, available only where the Federal Government or a public authority requires it, where the land is for a public purpose, or in “special circumstances”. New freehold titles are not routine.
| What you will see on the title | What it is | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Form 5B or Form 5D | Registry grant or Mukim grant | The text reads “is held in perpetuity” — freehold |
| Form 5C or Form 5E | State lease or Mukim lease | The header carries “Term of … years expiring on …” — leasehold. Years remaining = the printed expiry date minus today, not 99 minus the year it was built |
What happens at expiry is stated bluntly: section 46(1)(a) — the land reverts to and vests in the state authority. Section 47 — every building on it (by whomsoever erected, other than temporary or removable ones) vests in the state, with no compensation payable. Section 48 — no length of occupation creates title.
Extension is possible under section 90A, with four things worth knowing: it must be applied for before the term expires; every registered interest holder (your mortgage bank) must consent; grant or refusal is “at the discretion of the state authority”; and the premium is set by the state authority. For a subdivided building the management corporation applies, on a unanimous resolution.
Strata: the risk of buying before individual title issues
- The developer has a statutory duty to apply for strata titles. Section 8, Strata Titles Act 1985: once any parcel is sold or agreed to be sold, application is compulsory, within three months of the superstructure stage certificate — not on handover. Breach carries a fine of RM10,000 to RM100,000 or up to three years’ imprisonment.
- One common and hard-to-fix blocker: section 9(2) bars the application while the land remains subject to any charge or lien. If the developer’s own financing is not discharged, no title issues.
- For a foreign buyer this stage is expensive to get wrong. A pre-title dealing falls under section 433E: non-compliance makes it void, exposes both sides to a fine of not less than RM100,000, and any instrument executed under power of attorney is void and unregistrable.
For the answer on a specific development, see eligibility development by development. For what this gate costs, see section 3.
What this page cannot do
Everything above is the general rule. General rules do not decide your unit. Tenure, state, price and developer have to be read together before there is an answer, and all four have to be checked one at a time.
One more thing worth saying plainly: I am not a lawyer and I am not a tax adviser. This section collects the official material, dates it and cites it so you know which questions to ask. Before you sign anything, have your own solicitor confirm it against your contract.
If you want a specific development checked, WhatsApp me or send an email.
Louis Koh · 11 years in Malaysian property
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