The Malaysian Bar notes the ongoing use and expansion of the Housing Information or Housing Integrated Management System (“HIMS”) under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, “KPKT”). The system simplifies the application, allocation and monitoring of affordable housing. We welcome the digitalisation of public administration, as it offers benefits in terms of transparency, efficiency and data integrity.
However, it is essential to recognise what HIMS is, and what it is not. HIMS is an administrative system for eligibility, balloting and allocation. It does not govern and cannot replace the legal stages of a housing transaction. Once a buyer is allocated a unit, the process becomes contractual, statutory and financial. At that point, the rights and liabilities of purchasers and developers are governed by written law, including the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966, the standard statutory sale and purchase agreements, the National Land Code, and related regulations.
It is the view of the Malaysian Bar that the legal dimension of housing purchase has not been factored into the design or public communication of HIMS. This is important to note, as the Government itself recognised decades ago that housing purchasers are vulnerable and require legal protection. It is this recognition that led to the introduction of the mandatory statutory Sale and Purchase Agreement, defect liability regimes, liquidated damages and the Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims. It would be consistent with that same policy logic to ensure that modern digital housing platforms do not leave the legal layer unaddressed.
Without addressing these gaps in HIMS, there is a real risk that buying a home may be presented as a simple administrative process. If that perception takes root, developers or system operators may downplay the need for legal advice or treat lawyers as an inconvenience. This would put the public at risk.
Under section 37 of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (“LPA”), legal advice on rights and liabilities may only be given by an advocate and solicitor. Clerks, sales agents, staff of property developers and public officers cannot lawfully advise purchasers on their legal rights or obligations arising from a sale and purchase agreement or any housing legislation. HIMS does not provide legal advice and was never designed for that role. If the public enters the contractual stage without legal advice, they will be exposed to significant risks, including defective contracts, unenforced rights, disputes over defects, delays and financial loss.
The Malaysian Bar therefore urges that:
(1) public housing digital systems acknowledge the legal stage of the transaction, and purchasers are informed that legal rights and liabilities arise once they enter into a sale and purchase agreement;
(2) no government messaging should give the impression that legal advice is unnecessary;
(3) non-lawyers refrain from giving legal advice to purchasers, in compliance with section 37 of the LPA;
(4) KPKT consider incorporating a neutral advisory notice within HIMS explaining when legal advice is needed and why, without referring to any specific firm or practitioner; and
(5) any future housing policy or digitalisation effort include the legal community as a stakeholder, in the same way that the Government historically designed consumer protection features for homebuyers.
The Malaysian Bar stresses that this is not a question of professional jurisdiction but one of consumer protection, legal compliance and respect for statutory safeguards that were built to protect ordinary Malaysians in one of the most expensive and consequential purchases of their lives.
The public and the Bar should hold the following principles dear and never compromised:
(1) Access to independent legal advice is a safeguard, not a luxury;
(2) Consumer protection in housing is grounded in law, not sales or administrative convenience;
(3) Non-lawyers must not give legal advice, whether inside a system office or a sales gallery;
(4) No digital system should erode statutory rights or diminish the importance of legal accountability; and
(5) The purchase of a home must remain a legally protected act, not merely an administrative or commercial transaction.
Digitalisation should improve public welfare, not hollow out the legal safeguards that protect the public. As Malaysia modernises its housing ecosystem, it must do so without compromising the rule of law, consumer protection and the right of citizens to enter contracts with full knowledge of their legal position.
Mohamad Ezri b Abdul Wahab
President
Malaysian Bar
10 February 2026