Contrary to popular belief, a collective sale is still not complete even though a sale order is obtained. For a collective sale to be successfully completed, the simultaneous completion of the sale and purchase of all the strata lots in the development has to be ensured.

Some of the notable collective sales that we acted in are The Grangeford (193 units), Gillman Heights Condominium (608 units), Waterfront View (583 units), Leedon Heights (314 units), UIC Building (130 units), Harbour View Gardens (14 units), Futura (72 units) and Tulip Garden (164 units).

Some of the more recent collective sales we have acted in include Irving Industrial Building (67 units), Sun Rosier (78 units), Florence Regency (336 units), Pearlbank Apartments (288 units), Kemaman Point (89 units), Tulip Garden (164 units), Fairhaven (15 units), Peace Centre / Peace Mansion (319 units) and Meyer Park (60 units).

We have also acted for purchasers in the collective purchase of properties.

We acted for the purchaser of Farrer Court (comprising 618 units), which was sold at a record price of S$1,338,800,000.00.

More recently, we acted for the purchasers of Rio Casa (286 units, sold for S$575,000,000.00), Casa Contendere (11 units, sold for S$72,000,000.00), Serangoon Ville (244 units, sold for S$499,000,000.00), Changi Gardens (84 units, sold for S$248,800,000.00), Royalville (104 units, sold for S$477,940,000.00), Merchants Building (6 units, sold for S$20,400,000.00) and Chuan Park (446 units, sold for S$890,000,000.00).

Some of the more notable litigious collective sale projects handled by us include, inter alia:-

• (a) Waterfront View (Yeo Loo Keng and another v Tan Yew Lee Kevin and others [2007] SGHC 92) – This is a landmark High Court case on the issue of financial loss. The proceedings were reported in the newspapers as the arguments raised were novel. Our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department successfully defended the appeal of the objector at the High Court and the sale order granted by the Strata Titles Boards was upheld.

• (b) Futura (Liu Chee Ming and Others v Loo-Lim Shirley [2008] SGHC 3) – The Court of Appeal upheld the sale order granted by the Strata Titles Boards.

• (c) Gillman Heights Condominium (Chang Mei Wah Selena and Others v Wiener Robert Lorenz and Others and Other Matters [2008] SGHC 97) – This is a high-profile landmark case involving numerous issues and went all the way to the Court of Appeal. Following this case, amendments that sought to bring certainty to a number of issues that were raised in Court were made to the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967.

• (d) Tulip Garden – This development underwent four attempts at collective sale (the last of which was successfully completed by us). In their second attempt (which we also acted in), the purchasers defaulted on the agreement for sale and purchase after the sale order was obtained at the Strata Titles Boards and failed to pay the further deposit, being the balance 10% of the sale price (less the initial deposit). Accordingly, the owners forfeited the initial deposit amounting to 5% of the sale price.

• (e) Fairhaven – This is another development that had multiple attempts at collective sale (which was finally completed successfully by us in 2021). In their earlier attempt (which we also acted in), the purchasers failed to complete the sale and purchase after the sale order was obtained and a deposit of 10% of the sale price had already been paid. Accordingly, the owners forfeited the 10% deposit.

• (f) Hollandia – In this matter, a dispute arose between the owners and the purchaser. The purchaser filed an originating summons at the High Court, which was successfully defended by our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department, resulting in the purchaser’s withdrawal of the originating summons.

• (g) Villa D’este – This is another collective sale where a dispute arose between the owners and the purchaser. Our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department stepped in to assist the Collective Sale Practice Group, which resulted in the resolution of the dispute and the matter was successfully completed.