Singapore Govt reviewing collective sales regime; reforms may be on the cards

SINGAPORE - The path to the collective sale of a property may soon get easier, with the Government reviewing policy and regulation of the collective sale regime under the Land Titles (Strata) Act.

In response to queries from The Business Times, the Ministry of Law said it continuously reviews policies and regulations to support the optimal use of land resources.

“This includes the collective sale regime under the Land Titles (Strata) Act, which aims to facilitate urban rejuvenation, while also ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the rights of property owners,” the ministry said in a statement on Nov 20.

Industry players have advocated for a lowering of the statutory majority consent required for a collective sale – especially for older properties – to proceed.

For now, the collective sale of a development more than 10 years old requires consent from at least 80 per cent of owners (by share value and strata area) to go ahead. For properties under 10 years old, 90 per cent consent is needed.

One suggestion floated by market players is for a reduction of the threshold from 80 per cent to 70 per cent, or tiered consent requirements tied to the age of the development.

The ministry said: “We engage, seek and receive views from a variety of stakeholders, such as property owners, developers, property consultants, industry associations, conveyancing lawyers and academics. The feedback is considered carefully and proposals for reform will be announced when they are ready.”

A change to the rules could recharge attempts to nudge along collective sales of older condominiums and strata-titled commercial buildings. These often stall because the minimum level of consent is not achieved, which holds back the redevelopment of ageing housing estates.

Initiatives to spur redevelopment

In recent months, several initiatives to spur the redevelopment of both private and public housing sites have been announced.

In March, the Ministry of National Development said large collective sale redevelopments with at least 700 units, and which will have at least 1.5 times the number of homes when redeveloped, will be given a six-month extension to their additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) remission deadline.

For ageing public housing estates, the Government aims to develop and flesh out the framework for the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (Vers) in this term of government, Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat said in August.

This includes setting parameters to identify possible Vers sites, ensuring that sufficient homes are ready for residents to relocate to, and working out the minimum consent requirements and fair compensation packages for residents.

Ms Christina Sim, senior director of capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield, said the industry has been advocating for a lower consent threshold for projects which are more than 40 years old, “as the buildings require large sums of contribution to fix severe defects after years of wear and tear”.

She said: “Many old buildings are not energy-efficient, and certainly not green nor sustainable.

“Older buildings have also typically outlived their economic lifespan. This is evident in so many old shopping centres struggling to find decent tenants to fill the vacant spaces. Many units are empty and eventually these become a burden on the owners, who have to keep paying maintenance, sinking fund and property taxes.”

Real estate consultancy Delasa’s chief executive Karamjit Singh said lowering the threshold would also “resolve unique en bloc situations that seem perpetually deadlocked, in particular where a single owner owning 20-plus per cent voting rights refuses to consent, effectively blocking a sale from taking place”.

Mr Desmond Sim, group chief executive of Realion (OrangeTee & ETC), said a change would be favourable to owners living in condos where previous attempts at collective sales fell through, just shy of the required margin.

For example, at strata-titled commercial developments, it is common for a few owners to hold a large chunk of units, he said. “By reducing the threshold from 80 per cent, majority owners may not be able to hold everyone to ransom, and the remaining owners can move along with the sale.”

He added: “However, being equitable to owners as well as maintaining realistic pricing expectations for developers will be the factors that enable deals to be closed.”

A collective sale that proceeds with the required consent and results in an agreed sale must still be approved by the Strata Titles Board. At this stage, owners who oppose the sale can raise valid objections, and the sale may be stopped at this point by the STB.

Mr Terence Lian, Huttons Asia’s head of investment sales, said a lower threshold “could make the process more achievable for certain ageing developments, especially those with remaining leases of around 60 years or below”.

These projects typically face higher maintenance costs and declining resale values, with buyers sometimes facing challenges obtaining sufficient financing, said Mr Lian.

But a lower threshold alone may not bring more deals to fruition.

Success would depend on market conditions, said Mr Singh. “At the moment, residential land values appear to be rising on the back of strong project sales, which also raises owners’ expectations.”

Mr Lian said: “Developers today are more cautious, constrained by land cost pressures, ABSD exposure and construction inflation. Only sites with reasonable price expectations, favourable planning parameters, and strong redevelopment potential will realistically move forward.”

The market for collective sales has been muted in recent years, as a price gap between what owners are asking and what developers are prepared to pay continues to stall negotiations.

The last successful major residential collective sale deal was sealed in July 2025, with the $810 million sale of Thomson View to UOL and CapitaLand Development. In September, Chiku Mansions, a four-storey walk-up block with nine apartments, was sold for more than $22 million. Another four-storey walk-up, River Valley Apartments, was sold for $56 million in February.

Only four deals were done in 2024, and seven in 2023. Amid the collective sale boom of 2018, 39 deals were concluded.

Between 2021 and 2023, only a third of collective sale attempts succeeded, down from the 63 per cent success rate in the 2017/2018 boom cycle, according to Knight Frank data.

THE BUSINESS TIMES