Land Law in Malaysia

Land laws, in general, are any laws put in place to regulate the ownership, sale, or purchase of property in a state or country.  Under current laws—Malaysia land is bought and sold using the title and registration system.  This title and registration system is based mainly on the Torrens system, originally instituted in Australia.  All properties are logged and kept in once central location or registry.

These titles are in a specific person or family’s name, and generally, the history of ownership is present on these documents as well.  This document is what officially transfers ownership to a purchaser, and below you will find information on the navigation of land acquisition in Malaysia.

Fees Involved

When considering purchasing land in Malaysia, it is important to understand many of the fees involved in the process.  A general outline of the fees required to acquire land in Malaysia are: booking fee/down payment, legal fees, disbursement fees, stamp duty on loan agreement, and title disbursement stamp duties.

The booking fee or down payment will generally be anywhere from 10% – 20% of the property price.  Legal fees are directly related to loan amounts, and loan amounts are calculated using a scale based on the value of the property (the larger the loan, the smaller the fee).   For example, a loan of RM (Malaysian Ringgit) 2,000,000 (about $633,614 US dollars) the fee would be anywhere from 0.40 % – 0.60%.

Disbursement fee (something like a land search fee) could cost anywhere from $400 – $700.  Loan agreement stamp duties are based on property mortgage, but generally are about 0.5%., plus a 6% government tax on the lawyer fee for the loan agreement.

Stamp duty for the title transfer of a property is calculated based on the property’s value.  There may be several other fees that the government imposes, like a “consent to charge” fee, for a leaseholder property.

Contact us if you have further inquires regarding stamp duties or transnational fees or ways to avoid them.
Visit our listings to find out more on lands ready for development in Malaysia.

Consult with a Property Manager

Though the current market and amount of land available throughout Malaysia may make it tempting to invest in property, it would be wise to do a fair bit of research on what land will result in a good investment on your part.  Because the laws and regulations are fairly strict and hard to follow, it would also be wise to hire a property manager to guide you through the process.  Be sure you hire someone you can trust, as unsavory characters may try to take advantage of you by adding various unnecessary fees and convincing you they are legitimate. Contact us and we will send our professional consultants to help you.