Premiums on renewal of leases 3

Happy New Year 2011 !

Good news for properties owners whose land leases may be expiring soon!

The Sabah State government has reduced the premium on lease renewal. The additional premiums for extension of land leases on houses has been lowered by 80 per cent and that for commercial and industrial properties by 45 per cent.

According to the report in the Daily Express (published on 30 December 2010), the Land office has used the new premium rate beginning this year (2010). But the formula use to calculate the premium was not made public. (Anyone who has any knowledge on this may share his / her view in the comment section)

You may want to read my earlier posts on this subject

1. Premiums on renewal of leases 2

2. Premiums on renewal of leases 1

Here is the full report as published in the Daily Express on 30 December 2010...

45-80pc discount on renewals

Kota Kinabalu: Good news for owners of both residential and commercial-cum-industrial properties in the State whose land leases may be expiring soon.

The additional premiums for extension of land leases on houses has been lowered by 80 per cent.

And that for commercial and industrial properties by 45 per cent.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the Land and Survey Department here used the new premium rate beginning this year.

"Such low premium rate for renewing extension of land leases for homes proves the State Government is dedicated and committed to realsising the people's needs to own their houses for a longer period.

We want also to make sure the new premium rate will not burden the houseowners but accommodate them to posses their homes when their land leases are almost expiring," he said.

Read the full text here Show/Hide

Musa, who is also Minister of Finance, said this in his speech at the launching of Wisma Tanah dan Ukur by Head of State Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah at its hall here, Wednesday.

Wisma Tanah and Ukur on 5.1-acre site is the first headquarters of the Land and Survey Department since its inception in 1882.

The previous building was deemed unsafe for the staff to carry out their duties.

Hence, the new headquarter for the department, Wisma Tanah and Ukur was constructed and became operational in 2007.

Also present were Federal Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, Minister in the Chief Minister's Department Datuk Nasir Tun Sakaran Dandai, State Secretary Datuk Sukarti Wakiman, Federal Secretary for Sabah,s Datuk Mohamad Hatta and Sabah Land and Survey director Datuk Osman Jamal.

On changing land use from agriculture to housing, commercial and industry, Musa said the additional premium rate for such purpose has been reduced since April 2008.

The move was aimed at ensuring the property market is maintained at a level where the majority of Sabahans can afford to own and purchase them.

Through the Government Transportation Programme (GTP) under a lab for Bumiputera Sabah and Sarawak, Musa said the Government is committed to ensure Native Customary Right Land is issued with individual titles or communal titles.

"Through Sabah Land Information System (SALIS), the State Government will set up an Idle Native Land Bank to record land acreage about 140,000ha.

"This will facilitate implementing agencies like Sabah Land Development Board (SLDB) and Sabah Rubber Industry Board (LIGS) to make plans of developing the lands on commercial scale through a joint venture with the land owners. By doing this, such development plans on the idle land could have positive impact to enhancement of the people's socio-economic and State's economic growth," he said.

Therefore, Musa said the effort of Land and Survey Department to establish a Unit for State Customary Land is very timely to ensure the success of GTP under the Bumiputera Lab for Sabah.

He also commended the success of building Wisma Tanah dan Ukur that reflected the State Government's high commitment in ensuring efficiency and effectiveness of public delivery system, increasing land revenue and providing conducive working environment to the Land and Survey Department staff to give best service to the clients.

Musa said he was impressed with management level of the department in upgrading its services to public and reducing bureaucracies to expedite official land matters.

Among the services are shortening the time of processing land surveying for issuance of land titles, creating a new method for Temporary of Lease application for sand and stone extraction from the river and land.

This also includes, he said, speeding up processing work for land dealings registration using a system of Land Dealings Electronic Submission System (LADESS).

Without stating the amount, Musa also expressed satisfaction with the department's collection of land revenue collection for November, which was the highest ever achieved by the department.

He also called on the department to intensify its law enforcement on offences involving encroachment into State lands, illegal extractions of stones and sand, digging on land without permit and pollution to environment so as to safeguard the State's natural resources form further destruction.
Source : Daily Express