Developers should offer units, pay rental to owners who do not agree to en bloc sales Letter from Paul Armstrong It is evident from the articles and letters in Today regarding en bloc sales that this phenomenon has already become a serious bone of contention. I fear that unless some strong urgent action is taken, it will soon get out of hand. A great many of the majority owners agree to sign the...
Enbloc
The Leonie Hill area looks set for major changes. Two properties in the area are looking to go en bloc. On Monday, CB Richard Ellis launched an Expression of Interest (EOI) to find a developer for Grangeford Apartments along Grange Road. A day later, Knight Frank put up the nearby Rivershire for sale, also by EOI. Under the Master Plan 2003, any project in the Leonie Hill area is subject to a 36-storey...
In recent months, no three words have polarised people and emotions so sharply and stirred up such an impassioned outcry. No, I am not referring to “ministerial pay hike” but “en bloc sales”, which similarly pits pragmatism against emotional logic. In fact, the latter cuts even closer to the bone for those who are affected, including getting booted out of their own homes. Stripped to its essence,...
A family that has refused to move out of a 39-unit condominium, sold en bloc in 2005 to property developer Sim Lian Group, may soon face legal action. Mr Francis Goh, who is the director of Central Chambers Law Corporation, the law firm hired by Sim Lian Group, said that court papers were formally lodged in the High Court yesterday. This comes just over a week after the Gan family called the MediaCorp...
Recently, the condominium I live in was sold en bloc and an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) was held. Several points came up during the meeting: • The CSA (Collective Sales Agreement), a huge legal document, did not need to be explained to the owners before they were asked to put their signature to the agreement. The owners were expected to know and understand the CSA beforehand as it was posted to...
One by one, her neighbours started moving out of the 39-unit condominium at Surrey Road and by Tuesday last week, the Gans were the only ones left — and left without a clue. “We have had neighbours moving out since March and a kind neighbour told us that the deadline to move out was April 10. I was shocked. I had not been notified if (the en bloc sale proposal) was successful or not,” Mrs Gan Beng...
You may have heard of the family in China who stayed put in their house refusing to budge when their building was slated to be torn down for a new development. Here in Singapore, a family claim they have been left completely in the dark about their condominium's en bloc sale. And, the time is ticking before the condo has to be demolished.Chin Siew Yin and her family moved into the Lincolnsvale...
$125 million -- that's how much Hong Leong Group has paid for One Balmoral under a collective sale agreement. This works out to $1,188 per square foot per plot ratio (psf/ppr), the highest ever yet for a Balmoral Road property. Nearby Balmoral View was sold to Kajima at $733 psf/ppr, while Chip Eng Seng bought 21, Balmoral Road for $451 psf/ppr. Under the agreement, owners of most units at One Balmoral...
The Hong Leong Group has bought One Balmoral for $125 million through a collective sale, setting a new benchmark for Balmoral Road at $1,188 per sq ft per plot ratio for the 66,277 sq ft freehold site. This includes a development charge of $1.1 million. The site, zoned for residential use with a 1.6 plot ratio, has the potential to be redeveloped into a 12-storey luxurious residential development. The...
Successful en bloc sales are now more spread out geographically over Singapore instead of being concentrated in the prime districts. According to property consultant Knight Frank, the first three months of the year saw 18 collective sales being sealed. Out of these, at least seven were in areas not traditionally known as hot beds for en bloc sales. They include Hong Leong Garden in the west, Flamingo...