SHAH ALAM, 5 SEPT – The 20 sen oil price hike that was recently announced by the government on Monday is blamed for the increase in house prices which jumped up to 10 percent.
The Star reported that a housing developer’s representative revealed that the oil price increase had led to a jump in the costs of building materials.
Additionally, the increase in house prices is also related to the lack of foreign labour due to the recent large-scale operation conducted by the Immigrations Department to tackle illegal immigration.
In the report, the President of the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association, Datuk Seri Michael Yam Kong Choy stated that the contractor would transfer the costs incurred by by the delay to the purchaser.
“The recent bleaching operation at the constructions’ site had frightened the foreign workers,” he said in the report.
He further added that the workers will be absent from work or postpone their return to the country until the end of the bleaching operations.
He said developers have to bear higher costs for labour in order to avoid being penalised for not following the agreement.
Datuk Yam said developers have to pay the damages to home buyers if the project is delayed.
He added that the increase in oil prices will affect the supply chain which involves more than 100 types of businesses. – The Star.