Lawmakers across party lines yesterday pledged to pass a draft amendment during the current legislative session to curb property flipping.
They made the pledge during a news conference called by the Housing Movement.
The Executive Yuan has approved a draft amendment to the Equalization of Land Rights Act (平均地權條例) and sent it to the Legislative Yuan for review in April. The proposal seeks to limit transfers of presale and new housing contracts and imposes fines of up to NT$50 million (US$1.62 million) on unfair promotions of real-estate properties.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
It also proposes setting up a licensing process for a private legal person to purchase properties, establish a reporting mechanism for property flipping and require the termination of contracts for presale housing to be disclosed within a month.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴) yesterday said gaining the support of housing justice groups shows that “we actually did something right.”
“As ruling party lawmakers, it is our responsibility to pass the amendment,” said DPP Legislator Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌).
The government should “do everything to stop, punish and prevent property flipping” rather than promising action, but failing to deliver, he said.
New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said the amendment has been delayed for too long and he would request that the draft be listed as a priority bill for discussion in the legislature during cross-caucus negotiations on Friday.
The NPP caucus would also seek to revise some of the proposed provisions to help build a healthy real-estate market, he said.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said the party “fully supports the amendment and will definitely list it as a priority bill,” adding that market manipulation and speculation should be severely punished.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu I-ding (吳怡玎) said that the DPP has a majority in the legislature, so the amendment is sure to pass “if [the DPP] is willing to schedule a review session.”
She suggested that the government use the resources allocated to agencies such as the central bank and the Fair Trade Commission to curb the reselling of presale reservation receipts instead of “passing the buck to other ministries.”
Land Administration Agent Association honorary chairman Lin Wang-gen (林旺根) said that reselling of presale reservation receipts keeps driving housing prices up, adding that the “actual price registration system 2.0” launched by the legislature last year failed to fix the problem.
After the Cabinet passed the draft amendment, the trading volume and prices of presale homes both fell at least 30 percent, he said.
Organization of Urban Re-s secretary-general Peng Yang-kae (彭揚凱) said they “believe that the amendment is correct and will be effective,” as the draft has deterred some profiteers from reselling presale reservation receipts.
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