# New law proposed to lower en bloc thresholds for older condominiums

- **Source:** Channel NewsAsia
- **Published:** 2026-08-04T05:47:00.000Z
- **Author:** Vanessa Lim
- **Original:** https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/en-bloc-condominiums-property-thresholds-parliament-6296691
- **Topics:** Private Residential, Transactions & Deals, Investment & Capital Markets

## Featured rationale

The lower thresholds could improve redevelopment feasibility for ageing estates and potentially expand housing supply, while tighter procedural safeguards may limit repeated or weakly supported attempts.

## AI summary

Singapore proposed lowering en bloc consent thresholds from 80% to 70% for developments aged 40 to 59 years and to 65% for older estates.

## Original article

SINGAPORE: As part of efforts to support the renewal of ageing estates, the Ministry of Law proposed on Tuesday (Aug 4) lower thresholds for older developments to secure an en bloc sale. At the same time, safeguards will also be strengthened for those who do not wish to sell, said the ministry. Under the Land Titles (Strata) (Amendment) Bill, the consent threshold for developments aged 40 to 59 years would be lowered from 80 per cent to 70 per cent, and from 80 per cent to 65 per cent for those aged 60 years and above. The existing requirements would remain unchanged for newer developments – 90 per cent consent for estates less than 10 years old, and 80 per cent for those aged between 10 and 39 years.

The law ministry said many developments have got significantly older since Singapore's collective sale regime was introduced in 1999. Such estates often require substantial investment for maintenance, repairs and upgrading works to remain safe and liveable. It added that lowering the thresholds would give owners of older developments a more practical option to consider redevelopment where there is broad support. "At the same time, there will continue to be safeguards in place for owners who do not support a sale," it said. According to official government records, m ore than 360,000 private non-landed residential units are currently below 40 years, while 20,000 private non-landed residential units are above 40 years. The ministry added that the proposed amendments take into account feedback from the public, including individual property owners, as well as multiple rounds of consultations since 2023 with a wide range of stakeholders. These include academics, lawyers, property consultants, industry associations, developers and representatives from the strata titles boards. The amendments would also extend the collective sale regime to non-strata-titled private residential developments where flat owners hold long leases over their units but do not own the underlying land. Such developments currently require unanimous agreement between flat owners and landowners before they can be sold. Under the proposed framework, they could instead proceed with a majority-consent sale, with safeguards to protect landowners' interests. Currently, they can only undergo collective sale by majority consent if the flat owners own flat leases of at least 850 years. The landowner’s interest in such cases is deemed to be of nominal value, as it is subject to the flat leases of at least 850 years, and the landowner will be deemed to have transferred his or her interest to the purchaser without consideration upon the issuance of a collective sale order. NON-CONSENT The proposed legislation would also tighten rules governing en bloc attempts. Under the Bill, the threshold to convene a general meeting to form a collective sale committee would be raised to 35 per cent of owners, measured either by share value or the number of units. That is up from the current requirement of 20 per cent of owners by share value or 25 per cent of the number of units in the development. Collective sale committees would have six months instead of 12 months to secure signatures for a collective sale agreement. "This addresses concerns about prolonged pressure faced by non-consenting owners while still providing sufficient time for signature collection," said the ministry. The Bill also proposes that the waiting period following a failed en bloc attempt would be extended from two years to three years. During that period, any fresh attempt to form a collective sale committee would be subject to the higher requisition threshold. "This prohibits repeated attempts where support remains insufficient," said the ministry. In addition, the proposed changes will also see the limit on court-ordered increases to the sale proceeds paid to objectors being raised to 0.5 per cent of the sale proceeds for each lot or flat, or S$2,000 (US$1,560) for each lot or flat, whichever is higher. This is to increase the pool of proceeds available to be awarded to non-consenting owners. Currently, the limit is 0.25 per cent of the sale proceeds for each lot or flat, or S$2,000 for each lot or flat, whichever is higher.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT If passed, most of the amendments would apply to ongoing en bloc exercises where the first signature to the collective sale agreement has not been obtained before the law comes into force. In estates where the first signature has already been obtained, the ministry said the existing rules will continue to apply. This is to "preserve fairness for owners" who have already signed the agreements based on considerations under the current thresholds. However, committees that are still collecting signatures will be allowed to convene general meetings to decide whether to terminate the agreement, and if so, to approve terms for a new agreement that will be subject to the new rules. Such collective sale committees will be given seven months from the start date to meet the required consent threshold for the new agreement. The Bill will be debated by Members of Parliament (MPs) at the next available sitting, before they vote on it at the third reading. If passed and assented to by the president, the amendments will take effect at a later date. Last week, it was announced that housing developers taking on large en bloc projects will get more time to complete and sell units under revised additional buyer's stamp duty rules. The changes took effect for residential land acquired on or after Jul 29. The enhancement was intended to further support housing developers in undertaking large-scale redevelopment projects, and in doing so, facilitate rejuvenation and boost housing supply to meet demand, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Ministry of National Development (MND) last Tuesday.

## Chinese translation

> Translation model: openai_codex_cli

### 拟议新法降低较旧公寓集体出售门槛

现行集体出售同意门槛最早于1999年引入。律政部表示，自那以来，许多发展项目已显著老化。

新加坡：作为支持老化屋苑更新工作的一部分，律政部周二（8月4日）提议降低较旧发展项目取得集体出售/en bloc销售所需的门槛。与此同时，律政部表示，也将加强对不愿出售者的保障。根据《土地业权（分层地契）（修正）法案》，楼龄40至59年的发展项目同意门槛将从80%降至70%，楼龄60年及以上的发展项目则从80%降至65%。较新发展项目的现有要求将保持不变，即楼龄少于10年的屋苑需90%同意，楼龄介于10至39年的屋苑需80%同意。

律政部表示，自新加坡于1999年引入集体出售制度以来，许多发展项目已显著老化。这类屋苑往往需要大量投入用于维护、维修和升级工程，以保持安全和宜居。该部补充说，降低门槛将让较旧发展项目的业主在获得广泛支持的情况下，拥有一个更实际的选项来考虑重建。“与此同时，对于不支持出售的业主，仍将继续保留保障措施，”该部说。根据官方政府记录，目前超过360,000个私人非有地住宅单位楼龄低于40年，而20,000个私人非有地住宅单位楼龄超过40年。该部补充说，拟议修正案考虑了公众反馈，包括个别业主的意见，以及自2023年以来与广泛利益相关者进行的多轮咨询。这些利益相关者包括学者、律师、房地产顾问、行业协会、发展商和分层地契局代表。修正案也将把集体出售制度扩展至非分层地契私人住宅发展项目，在这些项目中，公寓业主持有其单位的长期租约，但不拥有底层土地。此类发展项目目前在出售前需要公寓业主和土地业主一致同意。根据拟议框架，它们可改为以多数同意出售推进，并配有保障措施以保护土地业主的利益。目前，只有当公寓业主持有至少850年的公寓租约时，它们才能通过多数同意进行集体出售。在此类情况下，土地业主的权益被视为名义价值，因为该权益受至少850年的公寓租约约束，并且在发出集体出售令后，土地业主将被视为已无偿将其权益转让给买方。不同意 拟议立法也将收紧规范集体出售/en bloc尝试的规则。根据法案，召开大会以成立集体出售委员会的门槛将提高至35%的业主，可按份额价值或单位数量计算。这高于目前按份额价值20%的业主或按发展项目单位数量25%的业主的要求。集体出售委员会将有六个月，而不是12个月，来为集体出售协议征集签名。“这回应了不同意业主面临长期压力的担忧，同时仍为签名收集提供足够时间，”该部说。法案还提议，将一次失败的集体出售/en bloc尝试后的等待期从两年延长至三年。在此期间，任何重新尝试成立集体出售委员会的行动都将适用更高的征集门槛。“这将禁止在支持仍不足的情况下反复尝试，”该部说。此外，拟议变化还将把法院命令提高支付给反对者的出售收益上限，提高至每个地段或公寓出售收益的0.5%，或每个地段或公寓2,000新元（1,560美元），以较高者为准。这是为了增加可用于奖励不同意业主的收益池。目前，上限为每个地段或公寓出售收益的0.25%，或每个地段或公寓2,000新元，以较高者为准。

接下来会发生什么 如果获得通过，大多数修正案将适用于正在进行的集体出售/en bloc活动，前提是在法律生效前尚未取得集体出售协议的第一份签名。对于已经取得第一份签名的屋苑，律政部表示，现有规则将继续适用。这是为了“维护已根据现行门槛下的考量签署协议的业主”的公平。不过，仍在收集签名的委员会将被允许召开大会，以决定是否终止协议；若决定终止，则批准一份将受新规则约束的新协议的条款。此类集体出售委员会将从起始日起获得七个月时间，以达到新协议所需的同意门槛。该法案将在下一次可安排的国会会议上由国会议员（MPs）辩论，然后在三读时进行表决。如果获得通过并由总统批准，修正案将在稍后日期生效。上周，政府宣布，根据修订后的额外买方印花税/ABSD规则，承担大型集体出售/en bloc项目的住房发展商将获得更多时间完成并出售单位。这些变化已于7月29日或之后取得的住宅用地生效。财政部（MOF）和国家发展部（MND）上周二表示，此项强化措施旨在进一步支持住房发展商承接大规模重建项目，并由此促进焕新和增加住房供应以满足需求。