PETALING Jaya residents are appealing to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the next Selangor Mentri Besar to look into the plight of thousands of Petaling Jaya residents who are facing leasehold issues in Petaling Jaya.
A group of residents with landed properties in the city want the government to review the leasehold matter to ensure both the government and the residents would have a win-win situation.
Representing the group is long-time Petaling Jaya resident Rajesh Mansukhlal, who said the existing formula to renew the leasehold extension premium needed to be looked into.
"Financial institutions are not likely to extend any refinancing for leasehold extension premiums, especially for titles with less than 25 years left.
"Most owners are in despair with no idea what to do next. Leaving such properties to our loved ones will pose a huge financial burden on them as they would face the issue of someday having to sell the property and paying the full leasehold extension premium based on the market value of the land at that future point of time.
"This has led to a property market slump in these older leasehold areas, which negatively impacts the state," said Rajesh, who has been living in the city for over 50 years.
"In 2008, when the Pakatan government took over Selangor, the state introduced a scheme in which leasehold owners could pay RM5,000 to have their lease extended back to 99 years.
"However, the main condition is that if the owner sells the property, the full premium needs to be paid.
"The full premium is calculated based on the number of extended years and the prevailing market value of the land.
"The weakness of this scheme is that banks would be hesitant to finance the owner of this premium as the State will hold the first charge of the property ahead of the banks.
"Even if some banks are amenable to finance such premium payments, these banks would not ascribe a fair value on the property and the owners may not be able to raise enough financing to pay the exorbitant premium," he said.
He added that if the leasehold properties were allowed to become freehold at an affordable premium, the residents would be relieved of the exorbitant renewal burden.
"Residents can look into investing in their properties and create new business opportunities to stimulate the local economy," he said.
The properties could then help the economy and the government in the form of higher personal and corporate taxes, land assessment, quit rent and licensing renewals.
This, in the long run, far exceeds premium collections from leasehold extensions and is a win-win for all stakeholders, Rajesh opined.
Another long-time resident Datuk Lokman Awang said the pioneers of the city were mostly civil servants and they had served the country and society well.
They have retired in the Petaling Jaya and depend on pensions.
"They will not be able to afford to pay full premiums on leasehold extension and should they not have children to pass their property to, what does the future hold for them?" Lokman asked.
The residents appealed to the authorities to look into their plight as the pioneers of the city, especially in older sections of the city such as Section 1 to 18.
"There are areas in the city such as Damansara Utama, Bandar Utama, Kelana Jaya, Sea Park, SS1 to SS7 with freehold titles and they command a higher market value.
"Why should our older land remain as leasehold and be unfairly at a disadvantage?
"The older sections of the city such as Section 1 to 18 were originally part of the Effingham and Pataling Estates and later acquired by the government.
"In fact, we bought our properties from the developer. It was never government land in the first place.
"We came to know that we need the Federal Government's involvement for this leasehold issue to be resolved.
"The National Land Council, which is headed by the Prime Minister and includes Mentris Besar and Chief Ministers from the Peninsula, is able to decide on this," said Rajesh.
