Property developer calls for regulation of rental properties

Ung Choi Kun, president of the Association of Property Agents and Realty Developers of Macau, said on a TDM radio show yesterday that the Macau government needs to regulate the domestic rentals market through legislation while establishing an entity to handle rental disputes.
Ung said that Macau is currently handling lease-related issues with the relevant articles in the Civil Code. Those articles have not been amended since the establishment of the MSAR and, according to him, are outdated. There is also no public entity to monitor the issue.
“It has been a long time since the [real estate] industry started advocating for the legislation of rental regulation. As for whether it should be legislated independently or to simply amend the Civil Code, both opinions have their supporters. [But] it would be better if it is legislated independently,” he said.
The president suggested that there are two major issues on which the legislation should focus. One is the need to verify the handwriting of both parties in a leasing contract so that it is legally effective. The other is, he believes, the need to establish a public entity to handle disputes between landlords and tenants.
Moreover, Ung said that, owing to the downturn in gaming revenue growth and the implementation of 24-hour border crossing, the apartment rental market has cooled down a little bit. The rental of commercial units, however, has not been affected.