IT APPEARS that there is an urgent need to review the role of the Strata Titles Boards (STB), especially regarding collective or en bloc property sales in the light of recent court judgments that saw the board come under criticism. The most recent involved the decision by the Court of Appeal to call off the sale of Horizon Towers after a tussle between various owners over the condominium’s sale to a...
Collective Sales
Singapore has seen a drought of en bloc sales lasting more than a year. But analysts said that could change by the end of this year. They believe that with developers experiencing lower inventories, and government land sales still depressed, en bloc sales could present a more attractive option. More than 5,500 private homes have been sold in the primary market this year - already more than the total...
A group of homeowners has finally won the fight to keep their condominiums, ending a two-year legal saga. In an unprecedented move, the Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of owners who objected to the S$500 million en bloc sale of Horizon Towers. The Leonie Road condominium was to have been sold in 2007 to Hotel Properties and its partners. Had the en bloc sale gone through, owners of its 199 units...
IN DISMISSING yesterday the last-ditch appeal by 10 minority owners against the collective sale of Gillman Heights, Singapore's highest court has set down the clear criteria, going forward, for all other privatised HUDC estates that wish to go en bloc. In a case that hinged on the completion date of the estate, the Court of Appeal ruled that the age of HUDC estates should be pegged to the date when they...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the last-ditch appeal by 10 minority owners of former HUDC estate Gillman Heights to stop its collective sale. Minority owners at the huge estate at Alexandra Road have been battling the S$548m collective sale since it was approved by the Strata Titles Board (STB) in 2007. This appeal was the last recourse for the minority owners. They had argued that STB was wrong to...
Residents of Gillman Heights condominium could learn by Wednesday if the S$548 million collective sale of their estate - to CapitaLand, Hotel Properties and two private funds - will go ahead. That is when the Court of Appeal is expected to decide whether the law governing collective sales should have applied to former Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDC) estates, such as Gillman Heights, prior...
Here's good news if you are looking for a place to rent. Property developers are renting out en bloc units at half the usual price. Many new property projects have been put on hold due to the economic uncertainty. In the meantime, developers are renting out the existing units, acquired over the last two years, to cover their costs. Mark Teo, ERA's senior group division director (real estate), said:...
Businessman accused of vandalising property at East Coast estate WHEN the possibility of a collective sale for Laguna Park was announced in December 2007, some residents held back, hoping this would drive up the estate's value. But things turned ugly later at the East Coast area condominium, which was hit by a spate of vandalism cases after several residents opposed the sale. Cars belonging to residents...
When the possibility of a collective sale for Laguna Park was announced in December 2007, some residents held back, hoping it would drive up the estate’s value. But matters turned ugly later at the East Coast condominium, which was hit by a spate of vandalism after several residents opposed the sale. Cars belonging to residents against the sale were splashed with paint or scratched, while mailboxes...
WE REFER to the letters "Just leave me alone!" (Dec 16) by Lee Siew Hua and "A loophole, a headache" (Dec 19) by Yeo Han Tiong. We would like to clarify that the legislation already allows the subsidiary proprietors of a strata-titled development to decide on the tenure of an en bloc sale committee. A sale committee may be dissolved by way of ordinary resolution at a general meeting of the management...