The Cabinet is this week to discuss revisions to land rights and property brokerage laws with Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers, to attach an exclusionary clause to a proposed ban on the transfer of presale housing contracts.
The concession came after industry representatives protested the proposed ban, saying that it would punish buyers who have to terminate contracts due to financial, occupational or family reasons.
The Cabinet is to hold a final discussion on the bill drafted by the Ministry of the Interior that aims to curb short-term property speculation, specifically about the transfer of presale housing contracts, which require small amounts of money and are often blamed for pushing up housing prices.
Photo: Lin Yi-chang, Taipei Times
The exclusionary clause would give the ministry room to make exceptions for transfers necessitated by unforeseen and drastic changes in a buyer’s financial condition or occupation, or other reasons.
Property agents would not be allowed to help with transfers and perpetrators could be fined NT$500,000 to NT$3 million (US$17,419 to US$104,511), the bill says.
Currently, exceptions are limited to immediate family members and second-degree relatives of buyers.
The Cabinet is expected to approve the bill on Thursday next week in its latest attempt to rein in the unfair promotion of presale housing projects and newly completed residential complexes.
The bill would then be forwarded to the legislature for review before taking effect.
Policymakers said a proposed fine of up to NT$50 million on unfair marketing practices would stay, but a proposed jail term of up to three years would be removed.
Unfair marketing practices stipulated in the bill include using hired relatives, employees and other people to line up, pay deposits or sign purchase agreements to create the illusion of hot sales.
They would also cover deals and price gouging conducted on the Internet, social media and other channels via dummy accounts, group sales or monopoly tactics to make a profit, it said.
Misleading disclosures of transaction prices, sales volumes and market rates would also be subject to fines, as would promotion events using false data.
The bill would subject purchases of presale housing projects by legal entities to regulatory approval, as companies have increasingly replaced individuals as main property speculators.
The Ministry of Finance said the exclusionary clause would not weaken punitive property taxes in deterring property speculation.
The measures would complement each other, it said.
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