REGENT GARDEN

Regent Garden: 25 year old freehold property on West Coast Road, district 12.

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The STB has surprised us yet again by rejecting an enbloc sale - this time Regent Garden

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Valuation wrong, so STB rejects Regent Garden Sale

Straits Times - 31 January 2008

No Go for regent garden's en bloc sale

Straits Times - 3o Jan 2008

STB rejects collective sale of regent garden

ST - 31 Jan 2008

Regent off the hook for now

Today - 31 Jan 2008

From what I can gather from postings on the Forum page, this is what happened in the Regent Garden’s case:

Regent Gardens was sold for $34m and 6 minority owners objected to the sale saying the property was undervalued.

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The STB ordered a re-valuation by the same valuer on account of the minority objection. The valuation came out to be $39.7m. [I'd like to add that the STB in the past has always brushed aside minority complaints about under value - saying instead that 'valuation is not an exact science'. Just why did they suddenly pay heed to this particular complaint, and is this the first time they have ever ordered a re-valuation?]

As DTZ had made an error, a second opinion from an independent valuer was sought which gave a valuation of $41m.

One of the panel members specifically asked the two valuers their opinion of the $34.0m, and the reply was that the acceptable variation should not exceed 10%.

STB asked the buyer if it would top up the difference, and after an adjournment, the buyer's lawyer agreed to top up to $39.7m, but would consider a request for an additional amount above $39.7m, but not exceeding $41m. The Buyer's lawyer then asked time to prepare a supplemental agreement at $39.7m.

A few days later, the buyer's lawyer suddenly wrote to majority's lawyers and claimed that they, the majority owners, had 100% as all the 6 dissenters had withdrawn their objection, and they therefore required the majority to withdraw their STB application.

STB Vice President, Mr. Alfonso Ang, pointed out that it was the minority who had informed the STB about the under value, it was the minority who vigorously objected to the $34m sale privce, and yet it was also the minority who now wanted to force the majority to sell at the objected price of $34.0m. Something was wrong somewhere, to which the minority's lawyer suggested that the court should not dig further as there was now no objection to the sale.

Court President commented "the tribunal cannot be ostriches".

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Update: 17 April 2008

The High Court reversed the decision of the STB and ordered the owners to complete the enbloc sale with Allgreen Properties.

'Allgreen had asked the High Court for an order to get the majority owners to complete the sale. it argued that the STB had no need to even examine the sale as all owners had agreed to it.

The court agreed, ruling that the allegations of mistake and breach of contract were without merit and that the STBs decision to halt the sale was irrelevant.'

Source: Straits Times 17 April 2008

Urban renewal or suburban rip-off?

Oh my, oh my - on a fact finding mission, and out of sheer curiosity I visited the showflat of the latest condominium launched in our area - to check out how the idea of (sub)urban renewal translates into reality. The developer bought the land at $240 psf and paid off 583 owners $660k each for their 1700 sq ft units (average) They will build 1600 units in their stead at the following starting prices:

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2 bedroom - 980 sq ft - starting from $690K

3 bedroom - 1313 sq ft - starting from $860 K to $1 million

4 bedroom - 1593 sq ft - starting from $1.1 million

Penthouse - 2992 sq ft - starting from $2.5 million

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By those prices, Tampines Court, 3 + 1, 1700 sqft, park view, should fetch $1.3 million at least. We may not have a swimming pool, but neither are we cheek to jowl with 1599 other units in the estate. We are surrounded by trees, have out own internal park and another one just next door and are truly blessed with that rarest commodity of all - S-P-A-C-E. I predict, a luxury condominium in the near future will not boast a swimming pool, sauna, gymnasium etc as their main selling point - after all they are so commonplace now - but instead will be emphasising spaciousness and exclusivity; in other words, Tampines Court as it is now.

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I took a peek at the 4 bedroom type show flat; at $1.1 million it is way above the average heartland budget. It feels so much smaller than 1500 sqft. They cheated by knocking down one of the bedrooms, making it into a study with no walls - hence enlarging the feeling of the living room and dining area. The kitchen is tiny, there's actually no room for the refrigerator, microwave or conventional oven. You wonder where even the toaster might go! The bathtub (only in the 4 bedroom up) is for stick insects and there's a strange pull down bed in a windowless cubbyhole with a steel door off the kitchen which I was told was for the maid, should there be one. Being skinny would be an advantage for negotiating your way around the bed in the master bedroom. I looked around and tried to imagine where one would put the ironing board (in the toilet perhaps?), the laundry basket (hanging from the ceiling?), the piano (out on the balcony?), the sideboard (ditto), the glass cases,  the mountains of books and the rest of the detritus of 25 years of family life.... and well, there was nowhere; there was hardly enough room to swing a cat. (and I have 2!) And what is with all the bay windows? - pointless, useless, unusable space wasters. A modern 1,500sqft is so, so much smaller that what you imagine.

One positive point: a big balcony.
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I came to the conclusion that only the very skinny with money to burn, preferably having no children and who own nothing in this world save an artistic vase or two, could comfortably live in the homes of the suburban renewed. That, or investors hoping for a quick flip.

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If suburban renewal is for the good of Singapore, which part of Singapore society is actually benefiting? Not us suburbanites, the heartlanders, the very people who willingly (majority) or unwillingly (minority) place their homes on the altar of UR.

When ex-owners cannot afford to move back into the greatly expanded estate due to price inflation, then that is not suburban renewal. That, my friend, is exploitation.

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Anonymous letter

This anonynmous letter to the HT forum is worth reproducing here:

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"The fact that we have to spend a fortune on legal court cases for senior counselors to parade their intellectual skills at dissecting minutiae legal procedure and facts, show how ridiculous we have become as a nation. This case (HT) bares the very weakness of this particular legislation. Underpinning this legislation is total greed disguised as lip-servicing urban renewal.

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Greed on the part of developers who work hand in hand with foreign private equity groups who would devour anything that gives them phenomenal returns tax exempt or at least tax efficient in the name of injecting health into global economies. [A certain property tycoon] could well teach our Singapore sons and daughters a wonderful lesson here....honour the mighty dollar.

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Greed on the part of speculator-owners who buy up units which they think are ripe for raiding.

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Greed on the part of agents, professional legal and consultant teams who would share the spoils of this grand scheme, whether the deal goes through or collapse , they still earn their fees.

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Greed (perhaps more forgivable) on the part of short-sighted owners who think they are ready to downsize and liquidate to enjoy their nest-egg without realising that they are depreciating it unless they find alternative housing or schemes to grow their nest egg which they hope to get.

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Greed on the part of a government which thinks that making handsome developer's fees and other sundry taxes, bringing in foreign capital is the way forward to boosting the country's economy when in fact we are selling our family silver to unknown elements whose only aim is to pawn our tiny island and our homes to richer immigrants who could afford to buy our exorbitant condo airspace. But then we are historically an immigrant society , so be it, new wave after wave of immigrants could easily replace all who are dispensable and fallible.

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That leaves all the minority anti-enbloccers, romantic diehards who dream of holding onto our idyllic homes till death do we part..but looks like we will just have to get use to living a global nomadic life till we reach our final resting place wherever it maybe.

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If greed underpins the whole economy and our skyline, the spin-off would indeed be very interesting to watch for all of us who thought we could come home again...just gold dust and lust for it fills the air."

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Comments

In response to all the comments below on price:

Let's get back to basics here: there are more things wrong with this enbloc than just the price. Sure, the price is paltry especially under the present market conditions, but but there are a lot more contentious issues which may or may not hold water at the STB, and as a minority owner who refused to sign , I feel it is my right and my duty to bring to light these other grievances. Parliament has given me this narrow avenue of appeal and so I will take it.

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At the end of the day, money is just money, and life goes on one way or the other. There are more important things in life that require our vigorous defence - country, family, religion, principles and home.

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None of us knew at the beginning what en bloc entailed; we went into this wide-eyed and curious. The auditorium at the first meeting was packed to the rafters with people just there to listen, not to decide, but to gather in enough facts in order to make an informed decision. At least, that's what I was there for. Other meetings followed in quick succession, and as details unfolded and the players took the stage, doubts crept in. Slowly, slowly, it dawned on some people that all was not right, things were not proceding as expected . By the time the CSA dropped on my doorstep I had gone from being 'neutral but interested' to decidedly disinterested. The CSA itself, that hefty legal document riddled with dangerous clauses (the ramifications of which were not clear to me, just that they did not seem right at the time), sealed my resolve to remain in the minority. On 3 days in particular, people signed the CSA in droves - the others waited and watched. The disgraceful behaviour of some strong supporters at the AGM in 2006 clearly showed the direction and manner the enbloc sale was going - and it was downhill from there.

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There can be no excuse for any enbloc conducted in the dark. A bare adherence to the minimal requirements of the law is not acceptable when homes and life savings are at stake.

When transparency, engagement and discussion is replaced by silence, secrecy and frequent citing of 'client privileges' you know there is something amiss.

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It is now up to the STB to perform its role not as facilitator to enbloc sales but as fair adjudicator, detatching itself from partisan and vested interest. There is no need for them to continually abandon compliance of the law and turn its eye instead on its overall 'purpose' as defined by Parliament. Parliament has already defined it's purposes through those very laws and has ratified them one by one. Parliament's intent that enblocs be made easier has not resulted in the elimination of rules, but conversly in their tightening with the very intention that they be applied. The laws are the word of Parliament and the STB should feel comfortable applying them impartially.

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If a sale is found to be improper or unsafe, Parliament surely would not want it approved. Singapore, afterall, prides itself on having high standards in all things, and the STB should find its justification in keepng that bar high.

FINLAND GARDENS

Published January 21, 2008

Sing unit seeks to join appeal over en bloc ruling
By LYNETTE KHOO

'SING Holdings said its joint venture vehicle is filing an intervention application with the High Court to be added as a party to the appeal made by majority owners of Finland Gardens in Siglap against the ruling that dismissed their en bloc transaction.Finland Gardens Pte Ltd

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(FGPL) is the 70-30 joint venture between Sing Holdings and Eastern Summer - the wholly-owned unit of US-based fund Forum Asian Realty Income II LP.The Strata Titles Board (STB) threw out the collective sale application of Finland Gardens in Siglap last November after it failed to meet statutory requirements.The STB ruled that there was no 80 per cent majority and that the sale price was not obtained in good faith. At the request of FGPL, the majority owners filed an appeal with the High Court in December against STB's decision.FGPL subsequently filed an intervention on Jan 17 with the High Court to be allowed as a party to the appeal.'

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The High Court has adjourned the hearing of the appeal and the intervention application to Feb 15 when the intervention application will be heard and further directions given for the hearing of the appeal,' Sing Holdings said.

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Finland Gardens, located in the Siglap area at East Coast Avenue and East Coast Terrace, has a land area of 98,309 sq ft. It comprises 48 units of walk-up apartments housed in two three-storey blocks.Sing Holdings proposed to buy the freehold site in November 2006 for $49.5 million. The owners of each unit would stand to reap about $1 million to $1.27 million, depending on the size of the unit.

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But owners of eight units objected to the sale, saying that they are not getting the best possible price for the estate and that a higher offer that came after Sing Holdings' offer was not considered by the sale committee, which simply asked Sing Holdings to match the later offer instead of asking for a better price."

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Finland Gardens' High Court appeal will be heard on the 21 April. Lawyer for the majority (applicants) will be Michael Huang SC. Dennis Tan for the minority (defendants).

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Update: 21 April 2008

No appeal has been scheduled

REGENT GARDEN

Regent garden en bloc sale contested
Straits Times - 19 Jan 2008
Regent Garden owners trying to scrap sale
Straits Times - 19 Jan 2008
Owners sue Regent en bloc buyers
Straits Times - 19 Jan 2008
Regent garden owners deny trying to back out of deal
Straits Times - 24 Jan 2008

Gillman Heights going to High Court

22 Minority owners are taking their case to the Highest Court in the land.

Their lawyers have engaged senior counsel Michael Huang to argue the case.

They are fighting for the 90% consensus, and so, this uncertainty hangs in the air for Tampines Court, too.

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Straits Times- 17 Jan 2008

Another bid to stop sale of Gillman Heights

And the majority are unhappy, too :-

Straits Times article
CapitaLand tell owners to honour sale

'It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings'

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Update: Gillman Heights High Court Appreal will be on 13 March 2008 at 10am in Court 6C

FUTURA

High Court decision
Liu Chee Ming and Others v Loo-Lim Shirley[2008] SGHC 3
Decision date: 08 January 2008
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This was an appeal to the High Court against the decision of the Strata Titles Board approving the collective sale of Futura condominium. Futura is a freehold 26-storey residential development located at Leonie Hill Road. The condominium comprises 72 units having a total share value of 75.
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(What a fine looking condominium, what a monumental waste to tear it down.)

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Summary
"62 As the appellants kept harping about the reduction of $3.7 million, it is appropriate to bear in mind that the eventual sale price was $287.3 million which was still about $7.9 million above the minimum price of $279,363,724. True, the eventual sale price did not necessarily preclude some impropriety which might show that the transaction was not in good faith but it was for the appellants to establish the absence of good faith. It was clear to me that they had taken a machine-gun approach to try and find as many faults as possible instead of focussing on the absence of good faith. They seemed not to understand that even if criticism could be levelled at the way the negotiations were conducted with CDL, that is a far cry from establishing absence of good faith. They failed to show that the Board had erred in law and I dismissed their appeal with costs"

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UPDATE: 3 April 2008

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Futura Minority owners withdraw appeal against en bloc sale

What is this? their appeal against the High Court decision? Must be.

Sudden Spate of En Bloc Articles

Horizon Towers: Minority owners want High Court to overturn STB decision
Business Times - 5 January 2008
Horizon Towers minority owners appeal against Strata board ruling
Straits Times - 5 Jan 2008
Flaws likely if en bloc choice left to owners
ST - 5 Jan 2008
LET JUDGES decide
Weekend Today - 5 Jan 2008
Minority retort
Weekend Today - 5 Jan 2008
Intrinsic value of area may resolve enbloc woes
Straits Times - 11 Jan 2007
Bayshore park: How many times more?
Today - 14 Jan 2007
Bayshore Park residents fail to form en bloc sales committee
Straits Times - 14 jan 2008

Enbloc Refugees

From TODAY article dated 27 Dec 2007

HELP, WE ARE ENBLOC REFUGEES

BY LUCY HUANG

"WE HAVE been “en-blocked” for a second time. On both occasions, we were reluctant sellers. People tell us we are lucky because we are getting a lot of money from the enbloc sale. But in reality, we have had to downgrade each time — from private and freehold, to HUDC and leasehold. And now, it looks like we will have to either go HDB or move to the edges of Singapore — away from our doctors, dentist, friends, church and clubs. To make matters worse, at almost every prospective home we have checked out, we have been told that there is a good chance of the place going en bloc. Our housing agent has told us that if we want to live in a condominium, we have to face the fact that sooner or later the owners will try to go en bloc. We were in our late 60s the first time we were forced out of our home. Now, we are in our late 70s. The next time, we will be in the same boat as two of our neighbours, who are in their 90s but still have to uproot. Is this the way we are going to pass our twilight years? Always faced with the prospect of having to sell our home? The experience is very stressful. Losing one’s home ranks alongside losing one’s spouse, child or parent. It can be traumatic and mentally debilitating. We have two other options. First, we can buy an HDB resale flat, which may not have the benefits a condominium offers in terms of security and facilities. Second, we can consider landed property, which would cost a lot more. And, as old people, we will have to hire someone to help maintain it because we will be unable to do so on our own. Of course, we could also choose to rent a home. However, this would put us at the mercy of landlords who may decide to raise the rent to an unreasonable level, or decide to take the property off the rental market, which would mean more packing, moving and house-hunting. Even with landed property, we wouldn’t have complete peace of mind. The Government may decide to redevelop the estate, or our neighbours may band together to sell. After working all our lives and raising our children, we had hoped to pass our twilight years in peace and relaxation. Instead, what can we look forward to? The constant fear of some bright (and greedy) spark rallying all the neighbours to put the entire estate up for sale to a developer? And if at first they don’t succeed, they will try and try again! As en-bloc refugees, we are appealing to the Government to come up with a solution, which will allow us to live the rest of our lives without the fear of losing our home — again."

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Today Online article: Allow only one en bloc shot

Today Online article: A tripartite effort is vital