Hi Lowyat,

Thank you for stumbling upon my post. I'm posting because I need some help and perspective from the knowledgeable people in here.

Basically I live in a town in JB very very near to the new RTS station about to be built. I love this neighborhood even though it isn't exactly safe or pristine.
My late father left this house for us and we grew up here. It is a nice Semi-D house with around 6000 Sqft of land. I grew up here and I seen it transform from
a beautiful neighborhood to a neighborhood ruined by the people working across the causeway illegally parking in my neighborhood and literring away.

But with that said I still love this little home of mine, it is convenient and spacious and my family feels a deep bond with this house.

You can imagine my devastation when I saw an article on edgeprop that says that there is a high chance my neighborhood will be acquired by developers to be transformed
into a commercial zone. The young naive Malaysian in me died when I researched and found out that in Malaysia there is little chance to fight forced land acquisitions or ask
for fair compensations. Nothing is set in stone yet but I have already predicted that the acquisition will one day come and probably not too far into the future.

I am also sick with worry about a few major points:

1. We love the spaciousness of our home and we are worried we wouldn't be able to get another home that is somewhat still convenient location-wise and as spacious in the overinflated property market of JB.

2. My mother is 67 years old, should I start house hunting now before the prices go up further so my mum in her old age wouldn;t have to deal with the whole relocation down the line.

3. My father left us some assets and we have income from the business but I am too young and my income is not high enough to get bank loans, my mother gets aid from the shares of the business we are left behind but she is old and the banks wouldn't approve any loans for her. (Family business stuff, so it's complicated)

But mainly I want to know how you folks who have been through something like this navigated the situation and what I need to look out for.

Thank you for reading

Thank you so much. Does LAA account for the building in the land or any recent renovation costs incurred of the landowner? Or is the valuation purely on the land size according to the area market price?

What kind of dialogue will typically go down in the meetings?

My area doesn't seem to be drafted into the RTS plan but to be honest it is a prime land, 10 minutes to RTS station. Most likely will be acquired for commercial use instead of public if someone ever comes to acquire our area. To be honest, I'd love to stay here forever if I could but I still want to learn more about LAA just in case the government with the developers force their way which isn't uncommon for Malaysia.

Do you think I should start house hunting?

Again, thank you for being so detailed with your answers. It's what I really needed.

yes, the gomen acquired a portion of my land for mrt.

a experienced valuer should be familiar with the process. with the right guidance, laa is not scary but great opportunity.

ManutdGiggs

Hi, may i ask, if government wanted to acquire your land, do we take government's valuation as good? Because their valuation is normally very very very low?

   

JPPH valuation is based on past transactions, tend to be lower than 'perceived current market value'. it is advisable to appoint your own valuer to justify your counter claim.

Oh ok, yeah so we have the right to appoint out own valuer in the event of:

1. government acquisition
2. land sale (as government valuation is lower hence the RPGT will be very HIGH!)

correct?

Oh ok, yeah so we have the right to appoint out own valuer in the event of:

1. government acquisition
2. land sale (as government valuation is lower hence the RPGT will be very HIGH!)

correct?

For RPGT, I've seen cases where the value of the land through the LHDN is higher than the purchase price. LHDN will tell you the land is under-valued so you can appeal against it if you are not happy with it.

Appeal could end in either unchanged, reduced or increased value.

I fully emphathise with your situation especially if the house brings sentimental value to you. Unfortunately the laws in Malaysia are such that when the governement wants to trigger LAA, there is very little you can do to keep the land (even if its freehold). What you can do is to fight for a higher valuation for the house. And yes, do be on a lookout for a new house.

Based on my experience working with valuers, renovations (such as extensions done to the house) will be factored into the value of the house PROVIDED those extension plans are approved by the local authority -- and you will need to provide the documentary evidence. If the extension is done without approvals, then the area done via the extension will not be part of the valuation, and anything built on top of the extended area (e.g built in cabinets etc) will not be factored into the house value.

For doing the groundwork to survey the building, they'll assign some junior. But the person signing reports will be a senior qualified guy. And if the matter escalates and goes to court, the senior qualified guy will be the one presenting the case.

Won't the big firms like Henry Butcher, Rahim & Co, C H Williams Talhar be very expensive?  Expecially if you need follow up rebuttal and court appearances?  They will do the presentation during the LAA enquiry stage right?

Valuers fees are fixed by scale and the costs of the valuer is borne by the acquiring body. So go ahead and find the best you can get.

I understand that the owners are given 3 months from date of issuance of borang E to object to the land acquisition at the court.

Have anyone done that successfully, and for what reasons?
I understand that section 3 (1) © allows the pejabat tanah to acquire the land for RESIDENTIAL purpose.

But the law doesn't state whether it can or cannot do they acquisition on behalf of a private developer.   

Have anyone challenge the legality of the Land Office acquiring it on behalf of a private developer?  And what's the outcome of the court cases?