En-bloc sale shelved because of one home-owner. Now, neighbours call him their hero
THE done deal was undone - by one household.
Regent Court in Serangoon Road was sold to a developer in April for $34million after the majority of owners approved an en-bloc sale.But retiree TK Seah said his family opposed the sale, saying they would lose money.
They took their case to the Strata Titles Board (STB) and won. It threw out the en-bloc sale application last week.
When contacted, the STB said they considered the facts and held that one of the objectors had suffered financial loss.
Financial loss means that the en-bloc sale proceeds, after deductions allowed by STB, are less than the price the owner paid for his property.
Under the Land Titles (Strata) Act, a financial loss case provides grounds for STB to dismiss an en-bloc sale.
Mr Seah said they were promised a payout of about $900,000 for their 1,980 sq ft unit.
He said they bought their three-bedroom unit for more than $1 million in 1996.
This means a gross loss of at least $100,000 for this family, not counting their bank interest repayments.
The 81-year-old said in Hokkien: 'It didn't make much sense for us to say yes to the en-bloc sale because the payout is so little. I don't think it's right that we should lose money during the sale.'
A lawyer The New Paper spoke to, who is familiar with en-bloc applications, was surprised that the application even made it to the STB in the first place.
RARE CASE
He said such en-bloc dismissals on grounds of financial loss are rare.
The lawyer, who didn't want to be named, said: 'You can't have a successful en-bloc sale if someone has already suffered a financial loss.
'But maybe the applicants didn't know there was a financial loss case in the estate.' With a financial-loss case, the buyer of the estate will usually make good the loss suffered by the seller.
The en-bloc payouts ranged from about $560,000 for a 968sqft unit to about $1.3 million for the largest 3,121 sqft units.
With more than 80 per cent of the households (41 out of 49 units) voting for the sale, you would think Mr Seah would not be a popular figure.
But this was not the case.
RISING PRICES
This is because property prices have risen since then, and some residents believe that they could to get a better price for their estate if they put it on sale again.
When The New Paper was at the estate last week, Mr Seah was hailed a saviour by some residents who were discussing the latest en-bloc issue.
Mr Seah looked visibly embarrassed, brushed off the accolade and said: 'I was just looking out for my own interest. But I'm glad others also benefited from the STB decision.'
One resident who voted for the collective sale, a businessman who wanted to be known just as Mr Chiah, was quite relieved the sale was dismissed.
He paid about $400,000 for his two-bedroom unit over 20 years ago.
He would've received about $600,000 from the en-bloc sale.
Mr Chiah said: 'I agreed to the sale because the price was good in April. Today, I'm sure the price for this estate has gone up. So, it's actually a blessing in disguise that the en-bloc sale didn't go through this time. If we put the estate up for sale again, I'm sure we'll get a better price for it.'
Rajah & Tann, the legal counsel for Regent Development, said it is reviewing its options.
The majority homeowners' legal counsel, Legal21, also said it is doing the same at this stage.
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