Retire to Malaysia

Wander around Kuala Lumpur, in the shadow of the mighty Petronas Towers, and it’s clear that Malaysia, which celebrates half a century of independence this year, is going places. You can forget those colonial images of mile after mile of sleepy rubber plantations; five years from now Malaysia will be importing rubber from Thailand. In KL, the capital, in particular, there is a prosperous, fast-growing middle class needing property. But Malaysia also has a Second Home Programme, aimed at people from overseas thinking of retiring to the country.

How attractive is this option? Well, the economy is stable and the Government broadly secular, though the constitution discriminates in favour of the bumiputra, or predominantly Muslim Malay population. A bumiputra is entitled to a 7 per cent discount on the purchase price of a new property. But such oddities aside, Malaysia has a lot going for it, particularly in the property sector. For the hard-working Malay middle classes there is a booming market in second homes by the sea. Typical of this fast-changing nation is Port Dickson, about an hour from KL by car, and about to become even closer, thanks to a new motorway. It’s unfortunate that the sea views are marred by a large oil refinery, but there are more than ten miles of beach and fine properties along it.

Banyan Curve is probably the pick of the Port Dickson developments. One and two-bedroom “water homes” are built over the water on stilts. Prices start at £135,000, and the chalet-like units, each with a plunge pool, are finished to the highest standard, with hardwood floors, teak furniture and Balinese-style fittings. Guaranteed rental yields at Banyan Curve of 8 per cent in the first three years sound generous but are not untypical in the Malaysian buy-to-let market. The British developer Robin Barrasford, whose company Barrasford and Bird is promoting Banyan Curve, says that Malaysia has proved a good place to do business because it does not have the red tape and antifreehold stance of Thailand. A former policeman, Barrasford believes that “investors want to feel as safe and secure as possible”.

Port Dickson attracts up to 80,000 visitors on a long weekend, offering a ready buy-to-let market. There has also been a rush of new developments on the resort islands of Penang and Langkawi, about an hour from KL by air. On Penang particularly, high-rises have sprung up on the fashionable north coast; but Malaysia is a country where one should think twice before sneering at a condo on the 20th floor. For one thing, you escape the worst of the punishing humidity at ground level. At The Cove, a luxury beachfront condominium in Penang, there is only one unit per floor, affording dramatic vistas in every direction. Apartments here cost between £200,000 and £300,000. If parts of Penang seem to be trying to ape Hong Kong, the Langkawi archipelago is closer to the idea of a tropical paradise, with less development and more chance of an away-from-it-all holiday. Property prices reflect this. Five-bedroom villas at the ultra-luxurious Pandangan Villas development cost £375,0000, with lucrative rental returns – up to £3,000 a week in high season.