Braddell View residents take first steps to relaunch en bloc attempt

The move comes after parliament passed a law to lower en bloc consent thresholds for older developments.

Braddell View estate sits atop Braddell Hill. (Photo: Colliers International)

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SINGAPORE: Braddell View estate has kicked off another en bloc attempt with the formation of a collective sale committee.

Over 300 residents attended an extraordinary general meeting on Sep 19 to vote in a council, the committee told CNA.

This is the first step in a collective sale. In total, owners representing about 38 per cent of the condo’s voting share were present or represented at the meeting, exceeding the required quorum of 30 per cent for the meeting to proceed.

Of the residents who attended the meeting, about 94 per cent approved the formation of a collective sale committee.

The en bloc attempt comes after parliament passed a new law on Sep 8 to lower en bloc thresholds for older developments.

However, the new law will take effect after the president assents to it. The Ministry of Law has not announced a commencement date.

Speaking to CNA on Sunday (Sep 27), the committee said they started engaging residents on the potential en bloc sale months before the new law was announced.

As the estate ages, repair and maintenance costs are starting to add up, said the committee.

For example, repair and repainting works which would cost about S$1.1 million (US$860,000) in the past could now cost at least S$2 million for an estate of its size.

The largest former Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) estate has 918 residential units and two commercial units. It sits on a massive 1.14 million sq ft plot on Braddell Hill.

“And you look at the demographic of the residents staying here, most of them are actually quite elderly. I don't think any one of them would like to actually pay a lump sum or increase their maintenance fee in order to maintain the estate,” said a member of the committee.

Braddell View, a 99-year leasehold estate, was the final HUDC estate to be privatised in 2017.

The 45-year-old development underwent two failed en bloc attempts in 2019, just three months apart , with the same asking price of S$2.08 billion. The estate did not receive any bids in its public tender.

Another attempt in 2021 was halted early as it failed to meet the requirements to form a committee due to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee said.

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Under the new law, 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.

At the same time, the threshold to convene a general meeting to form a collective sale committee will be raised, and the timeline to obtain signatures for a collective sale agreement (CSA) will be halved from 12 months to six months.

Developments aged 40 years and older that have already collected the first signature will have to convene a general meeting to decide whether to proceed afresh under the new framework, under which they will have seven months from the commencement date to hit the consent threshold.

The committee told CNA that collecting signatures for the collective sale agreement will likely start after the law takes effect, as Braddell View is still early in its en bloc process.

At the extraordinary general meeting, residents voted in nine people to form the collective sale committee.

The next steps include appointing a marketing agent and a lawyer, and setting the reserve price, which could take a few months.

The committee said the new rules – along with the removal of the 15-month wait-out period for private property owners to buy HDB resale flats – would “help” more than “harm” them. However, the new six-month timeline to collect signatures is a concern.

“But it is also fair for people who don't want to constantly be going through this cycle of people asking you to come and sign CSAs. So we think it is a tight timeline, and we have to be very fair to everybody on both sides to make sure that we’re representing everybody's interests,” a member said.

Those who oppose selling include owners who have recently moved in or those who have sentimental attachment to their home, the committee said.

A member pointed out that many residents understand the government’s intention to better optimise land. He added that with the North-South Corridor in place and the whole estate rejuvenated, the area could become nicer.

Analysts previously said that about 2,600 new homes may be built on the site if sold.

“I think maybe we’re just waiting for that ‘dong feng’,” said the committee member, using the Mandarin term for east wind, which symbolises a favourable condition. “Everything is … quite in place already.”

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此前，议会通过了一项法律，降低了老旧开发项目的整体审批门槛。

布拉德尔景观庄园坐落在布拉德尔山顶。 （照片：高力国际）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

新加坡：布莱德尔景苑（Braddell View）住宅区已成立集体出售委员会，再次启动集体出售计划。

委员会告诉CNA，9月19日，300多名居民参加了一次特别全体大会，投票选举委员会成员。

这是集体出售的第一步。总共有约占该公寓投票权38%的业主出席或委托代理人参加了会议，超过了会议召开所需的30%法定人数。

出席会议的居民中，约有 94% 的人赞成成立集体出售委员会。

此次整体收购尝试是在议会于 9 月 8 日通过一项新法律，降低老旧开发项目整体收购门槛之后进行的。

然而，这项新法律需经总统签署后方可生效。司法部尚未公布生效日期。

该委员会在周日（9月27日）接受亚洲新闻台采访时表示，他们在新的法律宣布前几个月就开始与居民讨论集体出售的可能性。

委员会表示，随着庄园的老化，维修和维护费用开始不断增加。

例如，过去花费约 110 万新元（86 万美元）的维修和重新粉刷工程，现在对于如此规模的房产来说，至少需要花费 200 万新元。

这个曾经属于住房和城市发展公司（HUDC）的最大住宅区拥有918个住宅单元和两个商业单元，坐落在布莱德尔山一块面积达114万平方英尺的广阔地块上。

“看看这里居民的构成，他们大多数都年纪很大了。我不认为他们会愿意一次性支付一大笔钱或者提高物业管理费来维护这个小区，”一位委员会成员说道。

布拉德尔景苑（Braddell View）是一个拥有 99 年租赁权的住宅区，是 2017 年最后一个被私有化的 HUDC 住宅区。

这个已有45年历史的开发项目在2019年经历了两次集体出售尝试，两次尝试仅相隔三个月，要价均为20.8亿新元，但均以失败告终。该项目在公开招标中无人问津。

委员会表示，2021 年的另一次尝试因受 COVID-19 疫情带来的挑战而未能满足组建委员会的要求，因此提前中止。

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根据新法律，40 至 59 年房龄的开发项目的同意门槛将从 80% 降至 70%，60 岁及以上房龄的开发项目的同意门槛将从 80% 降至 65%。

与此同时，召开股东大会组建集体出售委员会的门槛将提高，集体出售协议（CSA）的签署期限将从 12 个月缩短至 6 个月。

对于已建成 40 年及以上的开发项目，如果已​​经收集到第一个签名，则必须召开股东大会，决定是否在新框架下重新开始。根据新框架，这些项目将从生效日期起有七个月的时间来达到同意门槛。

委员会告诉CNA，集体出售协议的签名收集工作可能会在法律生效后开始，因为布莱德尔景苑的整体出售进程仍处于早期阶段。

在特别股东大会上，居民投票选举了九人组成集体出售委员会。

接下来的步骤包括指定营销代理人和律师，以及确定底价，这可能需要几个月的时间。

委员会表示，新规——以及取消私人业主购买组屋转售组屋的15个月等待期——对他们的帮助大于弊。然而，收集签名的新期限为六个月，这令人担忧。

“但对于那些不想不断经历这种被要求签署合作协议的循环的人来说，这也是公平的。所以我们认为时间很紧迫，我们必须对双方都非常公平，以确保我们代表所有人的利益，”一位成员说道。

委员会表示，反对出售房屋的人包括最近搬进来的业主或对自己的房屋有感情的人。

一位成员指出，许多居民理解政府优化土地利用的意图。他补充说，随着南北走廊的建成和整个住宅区的改造，该地区会变得更加宜居。

分析人士此前表示，如果该地块售出，可能会建造约 2600 套新住宅。

“我想我们可能只是在等待‘东风’，”这位委员会成员说道，他用的是普通话中指东风的词语，象征着有利条件。“一切……都已经准备就绪了。”

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