Investors wait on new laws granting land tenure

Build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreements grant foreign companies the chance to rent land from the government for a maximum of 70 years but do not include land ownership.

A new condominium law is currently being drafted in parliament and many foreign investors are waiting for clearer regulations before investing in Myanmar’s housing market.

“The problem is, there is no chance to own the land under BOT and thus the land tenure rights are missing,” said Myint Swe, the retired deputy director of the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development.

Most of BOT projects include hotels, service apartments and shopping malls. But when it comes to housing, the former deputy has criticised the BOT arrangements which leads to confusion with the regulations governing condominium projects.

“Since 1997, there was a handout released by the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development and this is still a manual for the regulations concerning with condominium,” added Myint Swe.

“This handout states that the preservation of infrastructure, building, water and electricity supplies should be coordinated and these properties are in the hands of the buyers of the condominium,” he continued.

source: Eleven Myanmar

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