Rainforest Riviera; A New Law Now Allows Property Buyers to Stay All Year Round in Exotic and Charismatic Malaysian Borneo, Says Cathy Hawker

By CATHY HAWKER

LET’S start with the bad news. Borneo, the third-largest island in the world, is a good 15 hours flying time away from London via Kuala Lumpur, with a difficult eighthour time difference. Now for the good news: just about everything else about Borneo is very good. The island lies in the South China Sea south-east of Thailand and north of Indonesia, well protected from typhoons and hurricanes. Malaysian Borneo, in the northwest, includes the province of Sabah, a wonderland of ancient rainforests, white-water rivers, long sandy beaches and South-East Asia’s highest peak, the granite-topped Mount Kinabalu.

Sabah’s eco-diversity is superb, including more than 275 species of birds and fabulous sea life.

Malaysia’s first World Heritage Site, Kinabalu National Park is home to rare orchids, and elsewhere in Sabah orang-utans, gibbons and pygmy elephants live in protected areas. Despite this, Malaysia has long played second fiddle to the tourist hotspots of Phuket and Bali, but plans are under way to change that. This year is Malaysia’s 50th anniversary of independence from British rule, and to mark the occasion the government has launched a drive to increase tourism and encourage overseas property buyers.

"In 1989 Malaysia received 4.8 million tourists," says tourism minister Seri Tengku Adnan. "By 2005, numbers had reached 16.4 million, and we hope to welcome 21 million visitors by 2007. As a Commonwealth nation we have a strong relationship with the UK." Buying leasehold property here has always been possible for foreigners, but under the new Malaysia My Second Home programme the government aims to streamline the process, enabling owners to stay for longer than three months at one time.

It is still a new market though. Sabah has only two developments aimed at foreign purchasers: Nexus Residences and Kudat Riviera, the most ambitious and exclusive one which is being built by an Englishman. Phil Dobson of Touchdown Group has worked in the travel industry for more than 20 years and believes he knows what customers want.

"High-end tourists want seclusion and space," says Dobson. "They look for unspoilt locations that are environmentally sensitive." Which is just what he aims to create at Kudat Riviera. On 18 acres of untouched Sabah, alongside Borneo’s northern tip, he plans to build 38 luxury houses, some a stone’s throw from the seven-mile beach and some on the lush hillside with sea views.

The site is fabulous, providing an idyllic awayfromit-all destination, and the design of the show-house, the only property built so far, is in keeping, using natural stone, wood and bamboo with alang-alang (woven grass) roofs.

Houses will range from a series of Sulawesi rice barns of 1,200sq ft to larger Coco villas of 6,000sq ft with prices from Pounds 151,000 to Pounds 707,000, including all furnishings and hi-tech toys such as Sony Vaio laptops and plasma televisions.

"I’m trying to blend three things at Kudat," says Dobson. "The lazy beach feel of the Caribbean, the design and open-air living of Bali and the mystique and culture of Borneo. I want Kudat to have the wow factor. I could have crammed more properties in, but that is not what we are about."

Kudat is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Sabah’s international airport at Kuta Kinabalu (KK) or a 30-minute flight by daily plane or helicopter.

Dobson’s experience in the travel industry makes him sure that the rental market exists to make a good return for buyers at Kudat, dismissing talk of inaccessibility.

Dobson’s wife is from Sabah and they live in the capital, KK. He is passionate about the island and its people, aiming to train and employ locals at Kudat. Touchdown will manage the rentals and run the resort and its restaurants. Completion is planned for summer 2008.

For further details of Kudat Riviera, email Victoria Hilley at luxuryvillas@kudatriviera.com, or visit www.kudatriviera.com

SABAH FACT FILE

Borneo has a year-round tropical climate with temperatures rarely rising above 32 degrees Celsius, or falling below 20 degrees Celsius at night. The rainy season usually lasts from November to February. Sabah is below the typhoon and monsoon belt – hence its nickname of "the land below the wind".

Getting there: flights take 13 hours from London to Kuala Lumpur and then two-and-ahalfhours on to Kuta Kinabalu international airport in Sabah.

British Airways and Malaysia Airways fly daily from London to Kuala Lumpur.

Return fares start from about Pounds 650.

Off the east coast of Sabah, the island of Sipidan is one of the world’s top dive sites, with sea turtles, reef sharks and wall diving.

A 30-minute flight from Kuta Kinabalu brings you to the untouched Danum Rainforest, which is stuffed with nature trails and wildlife including Sumatran rhino and pygmy elephants.

‘IT’S WORTH TRAVELLING FOR’

MIKE and Sue Burns, recently retired hoteliers from North Devon, have holidayed in Malaysia for 14 years, attracted by the culture, the excellent weather and the friendly people. They have made friends there – last year they were invited to a Malay wedding – and so buying a property in Malaysian Borneo seemed a natural thing to do.

"We thought about buying in other countries, but Malaysia is safe and surprisingly familiar," says Mike, 60. "English is widely spoken and our legal systems are very similar. The only issue is the distance, but we believe the extra travelling time is worth it when you get there."

The Burns sold two buy-to-let properties in the UK to buy a beachfront Coco Villa at Kudat Riviera; prices range from Pounds 300,00 to Pounds 404,000. The threebedroom house will be built on a two-acre plot, allowing the Burns to indulge their love of gardening. "We are keen to plant flowers and fruits that won’t grow in the UK," says Mike. They plan to live there to escape the British winter.

Malaysia’s My Second Home Programme

AT PRESENT, anyone can buy leasehold property in Malaysia, but non-Malaysians can only stay for three months at any one time. Under the new Malaysia My Second Home Programme, overseas buyers can stay all year round. Buyers under 50 must maintain a deposit account with about Pounds 44,000 in local currency for a year and then about Pounds 8,800 throughout their stay in Malaysia.

Buyers over 50 must either open a deposit account with about Pounds 22,000 in local currency, or show proof of a monthly offshore income of more than Pounds 1,450, such as a pension fund.

No purchasers at Kudat Riviera have bought through this programme as none plan to stay for longer than three months. At Nexus Residences sales manager John Chong says many buyers have used the programme. "It is an enlightened programme that allows buyers to run businesses here," says Chong. "It has helped to raise awareness of the possibilities in Malaysia."

(c) 2007 Evening Standard; London (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.