Voices

Stayers - a group of owners from different estates have befriended each other and realised that there are more and more subsidiary proprietors (SPs) who would like to STAY put in their respective condos.

Called HOPE4Stayers, this group aims to try to preserve their beloved estates and apartments out of love for their homes.

HOPE is an acronym for Home Owners’ Protecting Entitlements.

In keeping with the acronym, the friends feel that there are many aspects of the existing en bloc rules which need to be made clearer and fairer for those who wish to maintain their current homes and protect their rights.

“We are a bunch of friends and call ourselves ‘Stayers’, says a rep from Bayshore Park.

“Our feeling about our homes is that we would not want to sell them at any price as we could never replace what we have,” says a rep from Mandarin Gardens.

“We feel that there is a growing group of condo and apartment owners who realise that the en bloc movement results in increasing social dislocation and people are simply not happy about having to move away from their familiar surroundings,” says a rep from Green Lodge

“En blocs are not as financially lucrative as many have been led to believe,” says a rep from Clementi Park. “This is evident from the increasing litigation taking place with SPs saying they are relieved if their en blocs fail.”

“Add to that, the emotional cost of being uprooted from one’s home and to have to move to another location, has both an emotional and financial toll that cannot be ignored,” adds a rep from Dairy Farm Estate.

“We should not have such a disposable culture,” says a rep from Ocean Park.

“Sharing of our experiences about en blocs made us realise that many of us are fighting the same battle,” says a rep from Dairy Farm, “and the same issues with respect to lack of clarity in en bloc procedures are cropping up and need to be addressed.”

As the government is reviewing current en bloc legislation, the Group is composing a Good Practices Guideline for presentation to the Ministry of Law.

Many in the group have experienced multiple repeated en bloc attempts in their estates and have tired of the turmoil created by such an event.

“Not only is my condo in turmoil from two en bloc attempts”, says a rep from Clementi Park, “there is currently a massive upgrading exercise going on while the agents for en bloc are preparing to go from apartment to apartment, trying to get signatures for an en bloc. Such a waste of condo funds should be addressed by en bloc legislation. There should be a limit to the number of times a condo can try to go en bloc, especially if SPs have voted to upgrade.”

“In Bayshore Park, each EOGM costs thousands of dollars. Under the current regulations EOGMS are paid for by MCST funds and many EOGMs must be held for each en bloc attempt. This is costly and wasteful, especially since it requires only 30% to conduct the EOGM – but an en bloc needs 80% to go through,” says a rep from Bayshore Park.

Said a rep from from Neptune Court, “Too often we see Stayers of the individual estates, totally devastated and overcome with anxiety over the impending en bloc sales activities, but they are too timid to take effective measures. We hope to provide moral support and advice to such groups and to encourage them to take action to have their voices heard. It is their home yet they feel guilty to speak up.”

“Our other focus in helping Stayers is to ensure that en bloc processes are fair and transparent,” says a rep from Pine Grove. “In the event the en bloc process is initiated, these Stayers should be heard and respected by the CSC and other SPs.

“We often hear of ugly scenes at EOGMS when Stayers are bullied in meetings which are predominantly attended by en blocers. We hope to feedback on the human cost and other aspects of en bloc procedures which need to be regulated,” says a rep from Botanic Gardens View.