Housing and Residential Area Draft Bill Establishes Special Procedure for Housing Disputes

The government is finalizing the Housing and Residential Area Draft Bill (“PKP Draft Bill”) under an omnibus law framework. The Draft Bill will establish the Housing Tribunal as a special ad hoc judicial body under the Supreme Court (“MA”) to handle housing disputes that cannot be resolved through out-of-court mechanisms.

M. Ilham Hermawan, Expert Staff of Housing Law at the Ministry of Housing and Residential Area who also serves as the Chair of the Master of Law Program at Pancasila University, stated that the tribunal is designed to provide a dispute resolution mechanism tailored to the characteristics of the housing sector.

“The PKP Draft Bill will regulate the establishment of the Housing Tribunal to build a dispute resolution system that is better suited to the characteristics of the housing sector,” he told Hukumonline.

According to documents obtained by Hukumonline, the Housing Tribunal will have absolute authority to handle disputes regarding Preliminary Sales and Purchase Agreements (PPJB), delays in property handover, construction defects, as well as the management of multistory housing and the Association of Owners and Residents of Apartment Units (PPPSRS). This framework is modeled after the practices of the Housing Development Tribunal and the Strata Management Tribunal in Malaysia, as well as the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission in the Philippines.

“It should already be harmonized, we’re just waiting for it to be passed by the House of Representatives,” added Ilham.