DBKL: All Apartments & SOHOs in KL Are Now Banned from Adding Walls to Make Extra Bedrooms

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has announced that all residential and commercial buildings with strata status within its jurisdiction from adding internal walls for the purpose of making new bedrooms.

The announcement was made through a circular issued by its Commissioner of Buildings (COB) department on 21 July 2023 and made available for download on DBKL’s official website on 5 August 2023.

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The circular was addressed to the chairman of all Joint Management Body (JMB), Management Corporation (MC) and Sub Management Corporation (Sub MC) in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. The circular went into force on 1 August 2023.

In the circular, Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Sr Haj Kamarulzaman bin Mat Salleh informed that all service apartments and SOHOs with strata titles in the city are banned from adding walls for additional bedrooms due to the following reasons:

• The conversion of living areas and dining areas into new bedrooms will add to the number of rooms in an apartment or SOHO unit, thus making it contradict the original Development Order (DO) that has been approved by the local government, in this case, DBKL
• It would make current living areas not get enough natural light
• The addition of new bedrooms makes it seems like they would be rented out
• The number of residents for a unit would increase

The circular added that this prohibition is meant to avoid the existence of household units that are meant for commercial use such as hostels, the increase in traffic, and an increase in density which would incur problems to the surrounding residents.

So, what do you guys think of the circular by DBKL? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

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