Melaka’s old town is the one place in the state where a foreigner cannot buy. The state’s foreign-ownership policy puts its Heritage Zone off limits, sets a floor of RM500,000 for condominiums elsewhere, and charges an approval fee with a RM30,000 minimum.
All figures are from the Melaka Land and Mines Office’s policy on property ownership by foreign citizens and foreign companies, read on 23 September 2026. The policy took effect on 1 January 2014, with some items amended from 20 July 2016 and the fees from 1 October 2022.
Prices and the MM2H line
| Buyer | Strata home | Landed home, including landed strata |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign citizen | Above RM500,000 (exactly RM500,000 is considered) | Above RM1 million |
| MM2H and Silver Hair participants | RM500,000 | Above RM1 million |
The policy gives MM2H and a Silver Hair programme their own row but sets the same prices as for any other foreign buyer. Unlike Penang, Melaka does not lower the floor for MM2H participants. For a federal Silver participant, the binding figure is MM2H’s own RM600,000 minimum, which clears Melaka’s strata floor.
Permanent residents also need the state’s consent.
The Heritage Zone
The policy states that foreign interests are not allowed to own property in the Heritage Zone of Melaka. This is a ban, not a higher price. Foreigners drawn to the shophouses of the old town can rent there but cannot buy.
What else is off limits
Foreign buyers may not own:
- low-cost and low-medium-cost homes or shops
- single-storey and one-and-a-half-storey terraced houses
- shops or shop offices in terraces of fewer than three storeys
- property allocated to Malays in a development
- land sold by court order or public auction
- Malacca Customary Land
- agricultural land, except through a government privatisation development
Foreign ownership within a project is capped at 10% of the same type for bungalows and semi-detached homes. For condominiums and apartments the cap is 50% in urban areas and 30% outside them. A bungalow may not exceed 8,000 square feet and a semi-detached home 5,000.
What the state charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Processing fee, per lot or unit | RM5,000 |
| Approval notice fee | 3% of the sale price, or RM30,000, whichever is higher |
| Transfer by love and affection, or with no sale price | RM5,000 approval fee |
On a RM600,000 condominium, 3% would be RM18,000, but the floor lifts the approval fee to RM30,000. With the processing fee, the state’s charges on the MM2H Silver minimum home come to RM35,000. The fee reaches 3% only at RM1 million.
The policy states that no refunds of the processing or approval fees are considered. A refused application needs a fresh application, not an appeal.
Federal stamp duty is separate: a flat 8% on homes bought by foreigners since 2026, which is RM48,000 on the same RM600,000 home. See the 8% stamp duty for foreign buyers.
Conditions after purchase
- No transfer or lease for five years from registration. The policy says a registrar’s caveat for 60 months is entered on the title. For an MM2H participant the ban on selling adds nothing to the programme’s own ten-year bar, but the ban on leasing does: an MM2H participant who buys in Melaka cannot rent the home out for the first five years.
- Resale purchases are limited. On the secondary market a foreigner may buy only a property already owned by a foreigner, or a unit from a project whose approved foreign quota is not used up. In the second case the seller pays a 3% levy.
- A local lawyer must handle the application.
- A statutory declaration on the source of the funds is required. The purchase may be financed from foreign or local sources.
- An approval is valid for two years.
Compared with other states
For an MM2H retiree, Melaka’s floor is lower than Selangor’s or Johor’s, and its lock is shorter than MM2H’s own. Its approval fee has a minimum that Penang’s does not. The other states are in Selangor’s and Johor’s floors and Penang, where MM2H buyers get a lower floor.