The anti-collective sale brigade

The anti-collective sale brigade is becoming more vocal and dissenters are making sure their objections are heard

In April this year, the Gan family made headlines in a big way. Unhappy with the collective sale of their Lincolnsvale condominium in the Newton area, they called up the press to complain that the transaction had gone through ‘without their knowledge’.

And subsequently, they said they were the only family left in a building with no lights in the corridor and had demolition workers for new neighbours.

The rest of Singapore watched, some in amusement, as the Gans - who have two teenage sons - declared they were staying put in the 23- year-old development that Sim Lian Land had bought in late 2005 and was now ready to demolish.

Would the Gans have to be physically thrown out with their belongings, kicking and screaming? Would they stand in front of the wrecking ball, daring it to strike?

It never came to that as the Gans were ordered by the court to move out last month.

From refusing to move out to rejecting millions in sales proceeds, the anti-collective sale brigade is becoming increasingly vocal, and they are making sure they are heard in more ways than one.

Apart from challenging the keen sellers at residents’ meetings, they also write to the media, the Government, their MPs and neighbours, and even post it on their blogs.

Property consultants have noticed that they are an increasingly knowledgeable bunch and getting more aggressive.

Some of these objectors take on the fight alone, others in a group. Some are open about their objections, some prefer to say no without giving away their identities.

On the whole, collective-sale dissenters tend to be older home owners who have worked for - and established - a comfortable lifestyle. Many are in the so-called upper middle class segment.

Beyond the practical issue of how much a replacement home will cost, these home owners are unhappy for a whole host of more intangible reasons.

Some talk about the loss of community when they are split up from neighbours they have known for years.

Others bemoan the loss of architectural heritage and environmental wastage when relatively young buildings are torn down and rebuilt.

These are the reasons why, somewhere in Ulu Pandan, a group that calls itself Save The Pine Grove is still hard at work even though a first attempt at a collective sale fell through earlier this year.

A new collective-sale initiative has since been launched and the activist group has already written to voice objections about the way it is done, lest it gets in the way of estate maintenance.

For their efforts, they have had one of their letters posted at one of the condominium’s lift lobbies, and on it a vaguely threatening scrawl: ‘A few ladies from the Save Pine Grove group - Please get out of Pine Grove.’

Another dissenter, 58-year old retiree Ms Brown (not her real name), puts the resistance down to ‘attachments’ that people have formed with each other and the area in which they live.

Ms Brown, who had bought her unit at The Claymore back in 1989 with the view of spending her retirement in Singapore, has written to the media to voice her unhappiness at the collective- sale bid at her estate.

‘It’s almost like the ‘villages’ of London where local communities have their own dry cleaners, restaurants, grocer and so on,’ she said.

‘Even though we are close to Orchard Road and its many shopping centres, we also patronise small local businesses nearby and have come to know the people who run and work in them. And they, us.’

Dr D, a 39-year-old academic who has lived half his life in Britain, agreed. His Singapore property was also recently sold en bloc.

‘It’ll mean re-establishing everything again. But my worry will be that in 10 years, we’ll need to move again.’

In a twist of irony, some home owners have bonded as they work towards warding off a collective sale, further deepening the feeling of community in their estates.

Madam Lee Woei Shiuan has held a few collective-sale discussions at her Hong Leong Garden Condominium apartment in the West Coast area.

Attendance, she said, is generally good. She serves her guests tea, but some bring fruits, cookies and even bottled mineral water for all the attendees.

‘We need to ‘unite’ the owners so that we can collectively resist the sale application at the Strata Titles Board when the time comes,’ said the accountant.

The Hong Leong Garden sale is pending the convening of an extraordinary general meeting before the sale application can be made to the Strata Titles Board. It was sold in March for $131.5 million, a sum some home owners there - who are upset with the entire sale process - now think is too low in today’s market.

Madam Lee then decided to talk to her MP about the issue and was surprised when six of her neighbours went along to lend her support.

In other estates, blogging has proved to be a secure yet possibly far-reaching option.

A group of residents at Botanic Gardens View recently created a blog to gather views from dissenters.

‘Are you happy with the RP (reserve price)?’ asked one of the postings on the blog.

‘I urge you to think carefully before the agents do the song and dance and try to persuade you to sign the CSA…!’

But getting the strength in numbers to resist a collective sale is only the beginning.

The collective sale is a multi-step process with plenty of legal twists and turns along the way.

Dissenters may need expert help and lawyers do not come cheap. Over at Hong Leong Garden, unwilling sellers are pooling their own resources to pay for $60,000 in legal fees.

The initial fee for each unit comes out to $5,000, but should go down to $3,000 when more come on board.

‘We should fight for our rights to keep the roof over our heads,’ said Madam Lee.

But the potential cost of fobbing off a collective sale goes beyond simple dollars and cents.

Often, dissenters have to bear with threats and unpleasant surprises. There have been stories of cars being scratched and verbal abuse being hurled publicly at dissenters. This is why most dissenters prefer to speak only on condition of anonymity.

In the end, the dissenters say the sacrifice is worth it.

‘You cannot find such designs like Habitat One anymore,’ said home owner Vicky, referring to well-known architect Moshe Safdie’s classic project in Ardmore Park that was sold en bloc last year.

‘Cairnhill Heights is also unusual. It’s painted in metallic silver and has a retro science fiction feel to it,’ she said.

‘We won’t have an architectural heritage if we don’t have such interesting buildings around.’

Asked another home owner: ‘What signal is being sent to developers if buildings can be torn down after 10 years?’

‘Developers know that they need not build a condominium to be sustainable over 30 years if most are going to be demolished in 10.’

If you want to sell

1. Hold owners’ meetings to form a sales committee and choose a marketing agent and lawyer.

2. Decide the reserve price and sales distribution method.

3. Draft and circulate a collective sale agreement for residents to sign. Marketing agents may start looking for a buyer at this time.

4. Get a valuation report for the estate, which must not be more than three months old when the application to sell en bloc is made to the Strata Titles Board (STB).

5. Advertise the proposed sale in the local newspapers in the four official languages.

6. Fill out an STB application form for the sale and serve a notice of this application to all owners.

7. Minority owners can file objections, if any, with the STB within 21 days of the notice being served.

Don’t want to sell?

1. Attend the owners’ meetings on the proposed sale to get as much information as possible.

2. Owners with mixed feelings can volunteer to join the sales committee to understand the process. But if they do not support the sale, they should step down once the agreement is finalised.

3. Give feedback to the sales committee, marketing agents and lawyers during the drafting of the collective sale agreement.

4. If enough signatures have been collected to push through a deal and notice of the sale has been served, those opposed to it should file their objections with the STB. They may want to talk to a lawyer at this point.

5. Objectors should air their views at the STB mediation session.

6. Objectors should engage a lawyer to protect their interests if the mediation is unsuccessful.

Source: The Straits Times, 16 June 2007