Owners' Share Values and Voting Rights in Collective Sale of Mixed-Use Strata Developments in Singapore.

Strata developments in Singapore are governed by the Land Titles (Strata) Act (LTSA) (modeled on Australian legislation) and the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA). As in other jurisdictions, strata owners' voting rights are determined by their "share value". Share value also determines contributions for maintenance of common property and owners' share of common property. There are a variety of ways of computing share value. In the case of mixed developments, it is usual that "weight" factors are used. This has resulted in a higher share value being allotted to retail and commercial units in comparison with residential units. The impact of such computation and allocation of share values manifests a problem in the context of the collective sale of mixed-use developments. "Collective sale" refers to the purchase of an entire strata development by one buyer, upon a certain majority of the owners exercising their voting rights to agree to sell at the same time. The use of "weight factors" has led to situations where owners of units (usually residential), despite having larger floor areas, may hold insignificant share values. This often renders their voting rights ineffectual to obstruct a collective sale. This paper suggests that there should be a separate share value in relation to unit owners' voting rights for the purpose of collective sale. This is likely to result in a fairer outcome for owners of units within mixed-use strata developments.Keywords: Singapore strata developments, share value computation, floor area, "weight factors", mixed-use developments, collective sales, voting rights. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]