Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act

the development or construction or the causing to construct in any manner of more than four units of housing accommodation, and includes carrying on of any building operations for the purpose of erecting housing accommodation in, on, over or under any land;

or

the sale of more than four units of housing lots by the landowner or his nominee with the view of constructing more than

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four units of housing accommodation by the landowner or such nominee;

“housing lot” means any land surveyed and registered under the provisions of the Land Code (Chapter 40) which has a registered special condition of title for residential use;

“licence” means a licence granted under section 9(3);

“licensed housing developer” means a housing developer holding a licence granted under this Act;

“Minister” means the Minister of Development;

“project account” means an account opened and maintained by a licensed housing developer pursuant to section 14;

“register” means the register of licensed housing developers referred to in section 8;

“Registrar” means the Registrar of licensed housing developers referred to in section 7.

There is hereby established a board known as the Board of

Housing Developers which shall consist of the following members —

Members appointed under section 3(1)(f) shall hold office for a term of 3 years and be eligible for re-appointment.

The Minister may, at any time, revoke the appointment of any member appointed under section 3(1)(f) and the Minister shall as soon as practicable, appoint a new member in his place and the member so appointed shall hold office for the remainder of the term for which his predecessor was appointed.

All acts done by the Board shall, notwithstanding any vacancy in the Board or that it is afterwards discovered that there was a defect in the appointment of any person purporting to be a member thereof, be valid as if no such vacancy or defect had existed.

he is of unsound mind;

he becomes bankrupt;

he is convicted of any offence involving fraud or dishonesty;

in the case of member appointed under section 3(1)(f), he is absent, without leave of the Chairman, from three consecutive meetings of the Board.

The Board shall meet at least once in 3 months and at such other times as may be considered necessary by the Chairman.

At any meeting, the Chairman shall preside, and in his absence the members present shall elect from among themselves a member to preside over that meeting.

The quorum of the Board shall be a simple majority of the members present.

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Decisions of the Board shall be taken by a simple majority of votes and in the event of equality of votes, the Chairman or, in his absence the member presiding over the meeting, shall have a casting vote.

The Chairman may at any time invite any person to attend a meeting of the Board and to take part in its deliberations, but such person shall not have a vote.

Subject to this Act, the Board may determine its own procedure and shall cause a proper record of its proceedings to be kept.

to keep and maintain a register of licensed housing developers;

to approve applications for licences under section 9(3);

to vary or revoke existing conditions of licences or impose conditions or additional conditions under section 9(4);

to approve applications to withdraw money from the project account under section 14(5);

to approve applications to enter into an arrangement or reconstruction under section 15(1);

to approve applications for appointment of auditors under section 16(1) and to appoint auditors under section 16(2);

to refer cases under section 17 to the Minister;

to consider cases for revocation of licences under section 12(1);

to hear and consider representations from licensed housing developers as to why their licences should not be revoked or conditions on their licences should not be so amended.

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The Board, with the approval of the Minister, shall appoint a public officer to be the Registrar of the Board.

The Registrar shall be under the general direction of the Board and shall record all entries required to be entered in the register of licensed housing developers and sign all approvals or rejections as directed by the

Board.

The Registrar shall keep and maintain the register which shall be in such form as the Board may determine.

Such register shall contain the names and addresses and such other particulars, as the Board may determine, of all persons who are registered therein.

No housing development shall be carried out or undertaken in

Brunei Darussalam except by a licensed housing developer.

A housing developer desiring to carry out or undertake housing development in Brunei Darussalam shall apply to the Board in the prescribed form for a licence and shall supply such documents and audited accounts as may be required by the Board.

Upon receiving an application under subsection (2), the Board may, subject to section 10, grant a licence with conditions or without conditions.

The Board may at any time vary or revoke any conditions of a licence or impose conditions or additional conditions, but —

Where a licence is subject to conditions, the housing developer shall comply with such conditions.

Any housing developer aggrieved by a decision of the Board under subsection (3) or (4) may, within 14 days after having been notified of the decision, appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.

Any housing developer who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.

Any licensed housing developer who fails to comply with any condition of his licence is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.

if the applicant is an individual, he has been convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty or is an undischarged bankrupt;

if the applicant is an unincorporated body of persons, one of its members or partners has been convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty or is an undischarged bankrupt;

if the applicant is a body corporate, an individual holding office as a director, manager, treasurer or secretary has been convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty or is an undischarged bankrupt.

Except with the consent in writing of the Board, no person, not being a licensed housing developer, shall assume or use in relation to any

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business or any part of a business carried on by him the words “housing developer” or any of its derivatives or any words indicating the carrying on of housing development.

Any person, not being a licensed housing developer, who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.

If any licensed housing developer —

Where a licence has been revoked under subsection (1), the housing developer may, within 30 days of being notified of the revocation, appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.

A licensed housing developer shall —

Any licensed housing developer who fails to comply with subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500 for every day during which the failure to comply continues.

Subject to subsection (9), every licensed housing developer shall open and maintain a project account with a bank for each housing development undertaken by him.

Where a housing development is to be developed in phases, the licensed housing developer shall open and maintain project accounts for each phase of such housing development.

Before proceeding with any housing development or any phase of any housing development, the licensed housing developer shall deposit into the project account a sum equivalent to 10 per cent of the amount required to complete all units of housing accommodation included within such housing development or such other lesser sum as the Board may determine, and shall furnish the Board with documentary evidence of such deposit having been made.

The licensed housing developer shall pay into the project account of a housing development the purchase moneys received by him from the sale of housing units in the housing development and such other sums of money which are required by any regulations under this Act to be paid into the project account.

The licensed housing developer shall not withdraw any money from the project account except as authorised by regulations made under this

Act.

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Subject to subsection (7)(b), all moneys in the project account shall, notwithstanding any other written law, be deemed not to form part of the property of the licensed housing developer if —

Upon the happening of any of the events referred to in subsection (6)(a) or (b) —

Notwithstanding any other written law, all moneys in the project account shall not be garnished until all liabilities and obligations of the licensed housing developer under the sale and purchase agreements in respect of the housing development have been fully discharged.

This section does not apply to any housing development carried on by a licensed housing developer where all the housing units in the housing development will not be offered for sale and purchase before the completion of the housing development.

Any licensed housing developer who contravenes or fails to comply with subsection (1), (2), (3) or (5) is guilty of an offence and liable

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on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.

Every licensed housing developer shall inform the Board of any proposed arrangement for any sale or disposal of its business relating to housing development, whether by amalgamation or otherwise, and of any proposal for reconstruction.

The Board may approve or withhold approval of such proposed arrangement or reconstruction.

Any licensed housing developer aggrieved by a decision of the

Board under subsection (2) may, within 14 days of being notified of the decision, appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.

Any licensed housing developer who fails to comply with subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.

Every licensed housing developer shall appoint annually an auditor, who shall be approved by the Board, whose duties shall be to make a report to the Board upon the annual balance sheet and accounts of the housing developer. The auditor shall in every such report state in his opinion whether —

If a licensed housing developer fails to appoint an auditor under subsection (1) or at any time fails to fill a vacancy for an auditor, the Board shall have power to appoint an auditor and shall fix the remuneration to be paid by the licensed housing developer to that auditor.

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Every auditor shall have the right of access at all times to the accounting and other records of the licensed housing developer and shall be entitled to require such information as he desires for the purpose of audit from the licensed housing developer or from any other person who is in possession of or who could give such information.

No person having an interest in the business of a licensed housing developer, whether as a shareholder or otherwise, and no director, officer, employee or agent of that licensed housing developer shall be eligible for appointment as the auditor to that licensed housing developer.

Action by Minister if licensed housing developer unable to meet obligations or conducting business to detriment of purchasers or public 17.

Where —

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Minister may for the purposes of taking action under that subsection —

take such steps as may be required by the Minister under section 17(2)(a);

act in accordance with the advice given by any person appointed by the Minister under section 17(2)(b);

if he is a body corporate, present a petition to the Court for the winding up of the body corporate in accordance with a direction made by the Minister under section 17(2)(d), is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000

and to a further fine not exceeding $500 for every day during which the offence continues after conviction.

that person shall remain in control and continue to carry on the business of the licensed housing developer until such time as the

Minister may in writing direct; and

every such assumption and cessation of control of the business pursuant to a direction of the Minister made under section 17(2)(c) shall be published by the Board in the Gazette.

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Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Minister may, at any time, give directions in writing to a licensed housing developer to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Act, and any such directions shall be binding on the licensed housing developer to whom they are made.

Any licensed housing developer who fails or omits to act in accordance with the directions of the Minister under subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 and to a further fine not exceeding $500 for every day during which the offence continues after conviction. The housing developer may, in addition to such punishment, be liable to have his licence revoked by the Board.

Licensed housing developer under control of another person to co-operate with that person and Board 21.

Where another person has assumed control of the business of a licensed housing developer in pursuance of section 17(2)(c), the licensed housing developer shall submit his business to the control of that person and shall provide him with such facilities as the Board may require to enable him to carry on that business.

Any licensed housing developer that fails to comply with subsection (1) or with any requirement of the Board is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 and to a further fine not exceeding $500 for every day during which the offence continues after conviction.