Your LAD Clock Started The Day You Paid The Booking Fee — Not The Day You Signed The SPA

Here is a scenario that happens constantly in Malaysia.

You visit a showroom, fall for a unit, fill in a booking form and pay a booking fee. Two months later the developer's solicitors send you the Sale and Purchase Agreement, and you sign. The SPA says vacant possession within 36 months from the date of the agreement.

The developer delivers late. You claim liquidated ascertained damages. The developer's calculation starts from the SPA date.

They are wrong, and they have been wrong since 19 January 2021.

On that date the Federal Court decided PJD Regency Sdn Bhd v Tribunal Tuntutan Pembeli Rumah & Anor and other appeals [2021] 2 MLJ 60, holding that where there is a delay in delivery of vacant possession under scheduled contracts made under Regulation 11(1) of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989, the date for calculating LAD begins from the date of payment of the deposit, booking fee, initial fee, or the purchaser's written expression of intention to purchase — not from the date of the SPA.

Those two months are yours. At 10% per annum on the purchase price, on a RM600,000 unit, two extra months is roughly RM10,000 that developers routinely try not to pay.

1. The delivery periods and the formula

The LAD clause in the statutory contract makes the developer liable to pay the purchaser liquidated damages for failure to complete within the promised period.

Note the phrase "from day to day". LAD is a daily accrual, not a monthly or lump figure. That matters for the arithmetic.

On the purchase price used. Where a rebate or discount has been given, developers sometimes argue LAD should be computed on the discounted figure. The Court of Appeal has held that where the SPA clauses are unambiguous that LAD is calculated from the agreed purchase price, and the SPA makes no mention of a rebate, the calculation is based on the purchase price stated in the SPA — the SPA being prescribed and regulated by statute, parties cannot add clauses that remove homebuyer protection.

2. A worked calculation

Assume:

• Strata unit (Schedule H), so 36 months
• Purchase price stated in the SPA: RM600,000
• Booking fee paid: 1 March 2021
• SPA signed: 1 May 2021
• Vacant possession actually delivered: 1 September 2024

Step 1 — find the correct start date. Under PJD Regency, it is the booking fee date: 1 March 2021. (The developer will say 1 May 2021.)

Step 2 — add the delivery period. 36 months from 1 March 2021 = 1 March 2024.

Step 3 — count the delay. 1 March 2024 to 1 September 2024 = 184 days.

Step 4 — apply the formula.

LAD = Purchase Price × 10% × (days of delay ÷ 365) = RM600,000 × 0.10 × (184 ÷ 365) = RM60,000 × 0.5041 ≈ RM30,247

Now run it the developer's way, from the SPA date of 1 May 2021: delivery due 1 May 2024, delay 123 days.

= RM600,000 × 0.10 × (123 ÷ 365) ≈ RM20,219

Difference: about RM10,028 — purely from which date you start counting.

This example is illustrative arithmetic, not a legal opinion on your case. Your SPA's exact wording, the actual dates, and any separate claim for late completion of common facilities all change the figure.

3. Why the booking fee date wins — the reasoning

The logic is worth understanding, because it tells you how to argue it.

Regulation 11(2) prohibits booking fees entirely. The Federal Court held that Regulation 11(2) of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Regulations very clearly prohibits the collection of booking fees, however they are called or described — and a 2015 amendment made it crystal clear that no person, including parties acting as stakeholders, shall collect any payment by whatever name called except as prescribed by the SPA.

So "reservation fee", "EOI deposit", "processing fee", "initial fee" — the label does not matter.

The booking form is a contract, not an agreement to agree. Following Daiman Development, a booking pro forma was treated as a firm contract where it identified the parties, specified the property and stated the price, even though a formal SPA drafted by the developer's solicitors was to follow.

The HDA is social legislation. Both Ang Ming Lee & Ors v Menteri Kesejahteraan Bandar, Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan [2020] 1 MLJ 281 and PJD Regency held that protection of homebuyers is the paramount consideration, and the HDA exists for the protection of purchasers' interests.

The unfairness the court was fixing. The Court of Appeal noted that homebuyers do not have equal bargaining strength with developers, and that it would be prejudicial for a developer, having taken the deposit, to arbitrarily or unilaterally fix a date to execute the SPA and thereby extend the time to deliver vacant possession.

PJD Regency was not prospectively overruled. Commentary notes that a Federal Court pronouncement generally applies retrospectively unless the court invokes prospective overruling, and in PJD Regency it did not — which is what left developers exposed on completed and ongoing projects.

4. Sabah and Sarawak: a four-year fight, now settled

If your property is in Sarawak, this history matters because the position flipped twice.

So the current position is uniform: booking fee date, peninsula and Sarawak.

One live caveat. In August 2025, Sarawak's Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government said amendments to the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Ordinance would be tabled at the November State Legislative Assembly sitting, and that booking fees affecting the calculation of LAD would be among the issues addressed. We have not been able to verify what was ultimately passed or whether it is in force. If your property is in Sarawak, check the current state of the Ordinance before relying on this section.

Sarawak also has its own tribunal — the Tribunal for Housing Purchaser's Claims Sarawak (TTPRS), with different limits from the peninsular TTPR. Verify current figures locally.

5. The Tribunal: RM50,000, 12 months, RM10

For peninsular Malaysia, the Tribunal Tuntutan Pembeli Rumah (TTPR) under the HDA is the cheap route.

The Remeggious Krishnan point is valuable and underused. In Remeggious Krishnan v SKS Southern Sdn Bhd (Civil Appeal 02(f)-50-09/2021(J)), the Federal Court confirmed that homebuyers can bring separate claims involving the same property to stay within the RM50,000 limit, and that RM50,000 is the limit for each separate claim, not for the combined total on the same property.

But note the tension in the sources here. The Federal Court permits genuinely separate claims (for example, late delivery of vacant possession and late completion of common facilities are distinct matters). Tribunal practice materials also state that homebuyers cannot split a single claim, and that no more than one claim may be brought in respect of the same matter against the same party. Those are consistent — different matters, yes; artificially slicing one matter, no — but they are easy to confuse, and a claim that looks like slicing will be resisted. Take advice if you are near the threshold.

If your claim clearly exceeds RM50,000 and cannot be properly separated, your options are to abandon the excess (via the Borang Pelepasan Tuntutan Baki Gantirugi, after which the developer is absolved of the abandoned amount), agree in writing under s.16O, or go to court.

On enforcement — the practical weakness. Failure to comply with a Tribunal award is a criminal offence under s.16AD HDA, with reported penalties of a fine in the region of RM10,000 to RM50,000, or imprisonment up to two years, or both. Non-compliance can be reported to the National Housing Department for prosecution. But practitioners note there is no enforcement forum within the Tribunal itself — civil enforcement means going to court anyway, via judgment debtor summons or garnishee proceedings. Winning at the Tribunal and getting paid are two separate exercises.

6. Two traps that lose claims

One — accepting vacant possession without reserving your position. In Country Garden Danga Bay Sdn Bhd v Tribunal Tuntutan Pembeli Rumah & Anor [2022] MLJU 678, a purchaser complained his balcony should have been sheltered based on the display model. The claim was dismissed: the SPA contained no such term, and he had already accepted the unit and carried out renovation works. The Tribunal decides on the terms of the SPA, not brochures or show units — and making permanent changes to the unit can jeopardise a claim.

Two — the 12-month clock. Unlike the Strata Management Tribunal, which has no time limit, the TTPR requires filing within 12 months of CCC or expiry of the defects liability period. Diarise it the day you get the CCC.

What to actually do

Before you pay anything at a showroom:

• Regulation 11(2) prohibits any pre-SPA collection, whatever it is called. If a developer asks for one anyway, get a dated receipt identifying the property and price. Under PJD Regency, that receipt is the start of your LAD clock.
• Ask whether an HDA housing development account has been opened for the project.
• Keep the booking pro forma — the parties, the property and the price on it are what made it a contract in Daiman Development.

When delivery is late:

• Identify your correct start date: the earliest payment or written expression of intention to purchase.
• Identify your schedule: G = 24 months, H = 36 months.
• Run the calculation from day to day at 10% of the SPA purchase price (not a discounted figure).
• Check whether you also have a separate claim for late completion of common facilities — the Federal Court has addressed calculating that by reference to the CCC rather than the CPC.
• Write to the developer setting out the calculation and the PJD Regency authority.

Filing at the Tribunal:

• Within 12 months of CCC issuance or expiry of the defects liability period.
• Filing fee around RM10. Forms at Tribunal offices or the KPKT website.
• Bring: SPA, booking receipt and pro forma, payment records, CCC, notice of delivery of vacant possession, and your calculation.
• Do not carry out renovations before your claim is determined if the condition of the unit is part of it.

Where to get help: KPKT / Jabatan Perumahan Negara for the Tribunal; the National House Buyers Association (HBA) for homebuyer advocacy; Bar Council Legal Aid Centres at malaysianbar.org.my.