Ethical Performance & Improvements Towards Sustainable Real Estate

 ETHICAL PERFORMANCE & IMPROVEMENTS TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE REAL ESTATE AGENCY PRACTICES IN MALAYSIA

 Project Leader

Prof.  Dr.  Sr Ting Kien Hwa

Project Members

Dr. Zarita Ahmad  Baharum, En. Sharuzaman Mohd Salleh

Centre of Real Estate,  Fakulti Senibina Perancangan  dan Ukur,

Universiti Teknologi MARA

ABSTRACT

The estate agency practice in Malaysia has been regulated since  1981;  however, complaints from  minor offences to a severe  breach of ethical  code of conduct that involves a breach of trusts,  conflict of interests,  lack of transparency etc.  remain to be a critical agenda to the regulating Body Estate agency practices  face a very challenging and vulnerable environment due to intense competitions; advancement in disruptive  'fintech'  and 'proptech'  (property technology,  e.g.  https://speedrent.com/) and the way people interact and do businesses.  The evolution of the profession requires the regulator to keep abreast with the current changes in the business environment and industry requirements and needs.

This paper is aim to enhance the ethical performance and improvements to raise the overall standards and profile of the estate agency practices in Malaysia.  A mixed-method is used, which includes a survey, comparative studies and expert panels discussion and verification.

The findings show that to practice Sustainable Real Estate Agency requires a holistic assessment of the structure of the industry, to be able to cater and meet the expectations and protect the stakeholders' interests.  The Malaysian estate agency practice has established the overall framework similar to the developed countries. However, there are rooms to achieve sustainable practices.

Keywords:  Ethical Performance, Sustainable Real Estate Agency Practices, Malaysia