The Law Ministry has announced that the Land Titles (Strata)(Amendment) Act, which is aimed at giving more transparency to en bloc sales, will take effect from 4 October 2007.
(Picture) : Horizon TowersThe provisions of the new Act will apply to developments where the required 80 to 90 per cent majority consent of owners (based on share value) has not been obtained before 4 October. These developments will have to comply with the new requirements set out in the Amendment Act.
This means that developments where the required 80 to 90 per cent majority of owners (based on share value) have signed the Collective Sale Agreement will not need to comply with the new requirements.
Developments that are 10 years or more require 80 per cent majority consent, while those below 10 years require 90 per cent majority consent.
The new law includes provisions that address the issue of homeowners left unaware of what is contained in their Collective Sale Agreement (CSA), which would in turn make the sales process more transparent.
While some MPs raised concerns in Parliament on 20 September about social problems that occur with the heated en bloc market, Deputy Prime Minister and Law Minister Professor S Jayakumar assured members that changes to the Bill are to 'provide additional safeguards and greater transparency for all owners involved in en bloc sales'.
Another refinement to the new bill is that consent to an en bloc sale will now be based on the area of lots as shown in the subsidiary strata certificates instead of the number of units.
Mr Jayakumar said consent by number of units could result in "owners of large commercial units subdividing their property into many strata lots so as to create additional votes for themselves".
"Using the area of lots as the basis for the second condition of consent will 'mitigate the current bias against residential owners in a mixed development," he said.
He added that consent by number of units will also not be fair to owners with large units as it would mean that 'a commercial unit will have exactly the same voting right as a residential unit'. - CNA/vm
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