The Procedural Issues after the Implementation of Development Charge in Malaysia

Abstract

The development charge is levied to developers if the project is approved for either the conversion of land use, the increment of plot ratios or density, which increases the land value. To date, seven (7) states have implemented the development charges at their local authorities. Each state has a different interpretation of the policy, framework and development charges practices. An interview using a focus group was conducted to identify issues after the implementation of the development charges. Eight (8) local authorities were selected as research samples. Findings from the focus group have discovered five (5) main issues; namely duration, the collection of data, individual application, payment method, and unstandardized rate. Keywords: work procedure, development charge, local governments, issues and challenges.Keywords: Procedural Issues; Development ChargeeISSN: 2398-4287 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v4i11.1668

A Qualitative Content Analysis of the Developers’ Perspectives on Development Charges

“…The objective of this study was to explore the revolving arguments among property developers pertaining to a development charge imposed on property projects that were carried out in accordance with Section 32 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172). The development charge was levied on the applicant if the project was approved specifically for land use conversion that changes the compactness, the increment of plot ratios and density that will increase in land value (Abd Rahman et al, 2019). Currently, the property developers are juggling the surge in the cost of doing business.…”

“…The development charges have become an increasingly popular option among local authorities because they can hand over the fees directly to the developers instead of providing direct costs to residents, as in the case with property taxes. In the previous research by Abd Rahman et al (2019), there are five (5) main concerns after the implementation of the development charge namely, duration, the collection of data, individual application, payment method, and unstandardized rate. The unstandardized rates charged can be summarised as in Table 1.…”