Buyer’s right to build-then-sell system

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) refers to the article “Far from being rotten” ( NST – Property, June 23), by Datuk Eddy Chen, the immediate past president of REHDA, on why there is no need to change the present Sell-then -Build (STB) system. His argument is that abandoned projects form only a small portion of the millions of housing units successfully built, as such there is not need to change to the Build-Then-Sell (BTS) system or its 10:90 variant.

We would like to point out that abandoned houses are no small matter to those who are struggling to pay off loans for houses which they will not see, much less live in as well as having to paying rentals at the same time.

We do agree that millions of houses have been delivered under the STB system but that does not mean that all buyers have been happy with the final product. Poor workmanship is a very common complaint from buyers.

We need the BTS system so that buyers will not have to put up with abandoned projects or poor workmanship.

Further, with BTS system the buyers faces lesser risk of not having their homes completed within the time frame, shoddy homes or even fly by night developers. The developers should rightly bear the risks because profit making comes with risks. Developer who cannot take the heat should get out of the kitchen. Only the experienced developers with excellent track records and with good financial standing should remain in the business of housing development.