CityDev chairman calls for easing of property timelines

WITH softening property prices and sales volumes, City Developments (CDL) chairman Kwek Leng Beng expressed hope yesterday that this year, the government will tweak or even remove the rules on qualifying certificates (QCs), which bind developers with foreign stakeholders to strict timelines to complete and sell a residential development.

Speaking at the group's full-year results briefing, he noted that the QC rules put the heat on developers which purchase private land to push projects out quickly, depleting their land bank. These developers then have to turn to Government Land Sales sites and put in high bids to secure the land needed to replenish their land bank.

Mr Kwek said: "I believe that with the QC in place, bidding for every site will be competitive. To a developer, land is our stock-in-trade. Without sites, business will come to a standstill, so there is no choice b…