Own Land and Want to Build? Start Here.

These are the cases where the usual order does not work. Each first step comes from the rules of the land office, LPPSA, EPF or the council concerned.

• The land is in a parent's name

  LPPSA's own-land financing (Jenis 2) needs you to own the lot outright, or jointly with your spouse, or as parent and child. EPF's build withdrawal needs the land in your or your spouse's name.

  First step: agree whose name goes on the title, and register any transfer at the Land Office before you apply.

  • LPPSA →
  • EPF →

• Inherited land not yet distributed

  An estate worth up to RM5 million (with no will, for non-Muslims) is a small estate, applied for online through MyLAND to JKPTG's estate distribution office. JKPTG gives 4 to 6 months from application, longer at busy offices. LPPSA and EPF both look for the land in the applicant's or spouse's name.

  First step: file the application now, then register the distribution order with the original title at the Land Office.

  • Check my land →

• Agricultural land

  The owner's own house is allowed on up to one-fifth of the lot or 2 hectares, whichever is less, unless the express conditions say otherwise. Beyond that the land is converted under section 124; in Selangor the owner or a registered attorney applies on e-Tanah and the State Executive Council (MMKN) decides.

  First step: read the express conditions on an official search before any drawings.

  • Check my land →

• Malay reserve land

  A Malay holding cannot be transferred, charged or leased to a non-Malay. In Selangor it can be charged only to a body listed in the Second Schedule of the Malay Reservation Enactment.

  First step: ask your financier whether it is on that list, before anything else.

  • Check my land →
  • Bank loan →

• FELDA or group settlement land

  A holding has at most two holders, cannot be subdivided, and may carry only the holder's own house, on the part the Land Administrator directs. EPF accepts FELDA and recognised government-agency land for its build withdrawal.

  First step: ask the Land Office where on the holding the house may stand.

  • Check my land →
  • EPF →

• Land owned jointly

  In a joint LPPSA application every applicant must be a co-owner on the title, and for own-land financing the co-owners must be husband and wife or parent and child. In a joint EPF withdrawal each applicant draws only from their own Akaun Sejahtera.

  First step: agree who signs and who pays before you ask for a quotation.

  • Check eligibility →

• Civil servant, private sector or self-employed

  Civil servants apply to LPPSA under Jenis 2, which covers the construction cost in the building agreement's payment schedule but not plan or site preparation. Private-sector staff and the self-employed go to a bank, which asks the self-employed for different income documents. Anyone below 55 with at least RM500 in Akaun Sejahtera may add EPF's build withdrawal.

  First step: pick the route, then check eligibility with your real figures.

  • LPPSA or bank? →
  • Bank loan →

• Retired or close to retirement

  EPF's build withdrawal is only for members below 55. LPPSA asks applicants aged 55 or over in the year they apply for a pension estimate confirmed by their head of department, and its repayment period differs between pension-scheme and EPF-scheme staff.

  First step: check eligibility with your actual age, or plan the build in cash.

  • Check eligibility →
  • Paying cash →

• Working overseas

  Someone in Malaysia can act for you under a power of attorney: in Selangor a registered attorney may apply to convert land, and a land instrument signed under one is lodged with a copy of it. EPF accepts Form KWSP 3 (Pindaan) for applications sent by post.

  First step: have the power of attorney drawn up and registered before the project starts.

  • Check my land →
  • EPF →

• Rebuilding an old kampung house on the same lot

  In law, demolishing and rebuilding more than half the walls counts as erecting a building, so it needs plan approval like any new house. Councils route it differently: Shah Alam (MBSA) exempts one detached house from planning permission but still wants building and engineering plans through its OSC, while Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) wants an approved Development Order and planning permission first.

  First step: ask your council's OSC counter which route applies.

  • The approval process →