ST Forum : Restrict en bloc sales to older properties

Mar 9, 2010

Restrict en bloc sales to older properties

I REFER to last Wednesday's letter by the Ministry of Law, 'Allowing one
owner to stop majority untenable', in response to Mr Tan Keng Ann's letter,
'Review law on en bloc sales' (Feb 27).

In the same manner, it is also untenable that 90 per cent of owners of
property developments less than 10 years old, and 80 per cent for
developments at least 10 years old, can decide to sell such properties
collectively.

This is because it is wasteful of resources to demolish buildings by using
the 'less than 10 years' or 'at least 10 years' benchmarks.

Therefore I suggest the Government review the law on collective sales and
restrict the age of such properties to at least 40 years old.

Not only is it less wasteful but also the building's owners can at least
enjoy a lifetime there, even if the collective sale is eventually
successful.

Tony Lee