Official building approvals are essential for future property transactions like buying, selling and transferring. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
AMPANG Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) has concluded its special programme allowing homeowners to legalise past property modifications, with 510 residents successfully obtaining retrospective approval.
The home renovation legalising programme which ran through three cycles and ended in December, aimed to curb illegal extensions, renovations and land encroachment within the municipality’s landed properties.
However, MPAJ said it had no immediate plans to reintroduce the programme.
Despite extensive briefings and promotional efforts, MPAJ officials expressed concern over persistent homeowner misunderstanding over the importance of official building approvals.
These approvals were crucial, MPAJ told StarMetro, “to provide homeowners with vital documents like approved building plans and Certificates of Completion and Compliance (CCC), essential for future property transactions like buying, selling and transferring.”
Applications were rigorously vetted, the local authority said, with rejections occurring for constructions exceeding property boundaries or for structures still under construction rather than existing modifications.
Technical checks, including title deed verification, plan reviews, site photography and inspections, ensured compliance, they said.
Homeowners who failed to participate in the programme could face potential enforcement action, said MPAJ.
The council can issue notices under Section 70(11) of Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974, requiring owners to submit applications for additional approval.
Non-compliance can result in fines up to RM25,000, and court-ordered modifications or demolitions.
On June 19, 2023, a StarMetro report “Chance to legalise past renovations” highlighted that homeowners would have one last opportunity to obtain permits for their illegal house extensions, underscoring MPAJ’s final warning that there will be no deadline extension beyond December 2024.
Its Buildings and Architecture Department director Ahmad Alhairi Mohamed Yusuf emphasised that the council would not continue the programme beyond December 2024, discouraging a “renovate first, apply later” mentality.
The programme began in 2012 and was repeated in 2016.
