From 80% to 65%: Older developments to face lower en bloc consent thresholds under proposed law

Owners of older private residential developments could find it easier to pursue collective sales under proposed changes to Singapore's en bloc sale regime, with consent thresholds proposed to be lowered for ageing developments.

Introduced in Parliament on Tuesday (Aug 4), the Land Titles (Strata) (Amendment) Bill 2026 proposes a tiered consent framework based on the age of a development.

Under the proposed changes, developments aged between 40 and 59 years would require the support of 70 per cent of owners to proceed with a collective sale, while those aged 60 years and above would require only 65 per cent consent.

Currently, the consent threshold for developments less than 10 years old is 90 per cent, while the threshold for developments older than 10 years old is 80 per cent. 

The proposed amendments, said the Ministry of Law (MinLaw), are intended to better support the renewal of ageing developments and optimise land use in Singapore. 

"The Bill proposes to further recalibrate the consent thresholds for collective sales so that owners of older developments have a more practical option to consider redevelopment, where there is broad support," said the ministry in a press release on Tuesday (Aug 4).

"At the same time, there will continue to be safeguards in place for owners who do not support a sale."

The changes come as Singapore's housing stock continues to age, with many developments requiring substantial investment in maintenance, repairs and upgrading works to remain safe and liveable, said the ministry.

Beyond lowering consent thresholds for older developments, the Bill also proposes extending the collective sale framework to certain non-strata-titled private residential developments where flat owners hold long leases for their units but do not own the underlying land.

Such developments, said MinLaw, are currently excluded from the collective sale regime and require unanimous agreement between flat owners and landowners before a sale can proceed.

This includes projects such as Neptune Court in Marine Parade, where the 752 units are held by individual owners but the land and common areas are owned by the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Stronger safeguards for dissenting owners

Separately, the Government is also proposing stronger protection for owners who do not wish to participate in collective sales.

Some of these measures include raising the threshold to initiate a collective sale exercise, with at least 35 per cent of owners, by share value or number of units, required to support a requisition to convene a general meeting to form a Collective Sale Committee (CSC). 

This number will be up from the current 20 per cent or 25 per cent.

The period for CSCs to gather signatures for the collective sale agreement would also be halved from 12 months to six months, a move aimed at reducing the prolonged pressure faced by owners who choose not to sign.

In addition, the cooling-off period following an unsuccessful collective sale attempt would be extended from two years to three years. 

The Bill will be tabled for a second reading at the next available Parliament sitting. 

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xingying.koh@asiaone.com