Can any of you property experts here give me a some idea of what is a strata title and its function?
Thanks.

Strata title is similar to land grants it basically gives you the right to occupy a piece of land or in your case stratified space...

Its important because once you have your title you have certain rights and privileges.

For example residents of flat, apartment, condominium and high rise buildings can form a Management Corporation (MC) to run the management and maintenance services of their property. If you don't have a strata title you cannot form and MC and you cannot vote.

Also should you decide to sell the property, the strata title enable the transfer of the property to the new owner.

Some developers refuse to apply for strata titles because they can make extra money after projects are completed by forming their own MC and collecting maintenance and other misc. fees from residents. Residents also cannot do much to oppose these developers because their rights are curtailed without strata titles.




edit:
Here is some extra information...

Took me a while to find it, sauce National House Buyers Association (HBA)

Importance of strata titles

According to statistics compiled by the House Buyers Association (HBA), problems with strata titles make up most of the complaints received from buyers. It is no secret that numerous strata title properties are still managed by the developer even though the Certificate of Fitness for Occupation (CF) were issued years ago.

The HBA's advice to house buyers is to "get, keep and preserve" the strata titles to their units for the following reasons:

As ultimate proof of ownership.

As a dealing instrument for instances of charging to banks for loans.

To facilitate disposal should they wish to sell so that they will not be imposed "consent fees" by the developer.

To be able to initiate and get involved when the Management Corporation (MC) is formed by owners of the units in the subdivided building to maintain and manage the property.

As final proof of the built-up area of the unit and ultimately, the apportionment of the share in the total aggregate units.

As long as strata titles have not been transferred, the land the common property are still owned by the developer.

Should a project be orphaned (as when the developer goes under liquidation or becomes insolvent) before strata titles have been obtained, the unit owners will have to go through a lot of trouble or might eventually have to pay for the application of the strata titles themselves.

Pay HBA a visit their site is very informative I hope this helps

This post has been edited by aaronpang: Feb 5 2007, 02:26 PM

Thanks a lot.
Usually how long does it take for the developer to release the strata titles to the owners, I've heard of some developers that release strata titles long after the building is completed.

This post has been edited by supercolossal: Feb 5 2007, 03:56 PM

Always look out for the developers, whether if they are a well off one, etc.. it makes a big difference, smaller developers of condominium units usually keep the strata title for awhile, while bigger well-known developers for example 'sunrise' will release their titles as soon as they are able to.. usually this happens, but there can be exceptional cases..

But just a hint if you are getting a condo, if ur getting a condo which is already developed, it is good to get those without strata title, coz when the strata title is released to each unit, the price usually goes up.. if you are getting a new, undeveloped condo, then better watch out abit.. it can take way more than 10 years before they release it..

Usually what keeps them from releasing the strata title other than for fees collection purposes? Is it a tedious process?

Sometimes it's due to the garblement bureaucracy... and inefficiency.

Yes it can be tedious because it deals with common property which is owned by all the occupants of the building not just the individuals.

The rest sauce:-NST

The Act has been around for 18 years and the problems faced by housebuyers can be due to the following:
a) Old buildings (prior to the implementation of the Act) without strata titles;
b) Non-application or rejection of applications made by the developer/land owner. For the former, the lack of enforcement on the part of the authorities to compel the relevant party to make the applications also played a role;
c) Orphaned projects, where the developer/land owner has been wound up, making it more difficult for strata titles to be applied for.

Although the problems are obvious, its magnitude has been shrouded in a veil of denial. Unlike buyers faced with abandoned projects, relevant authorities show little concern for homeowners without strata titles.

This post has been edited by aaronpang: Feb 6 2007, 01:37 PM

How much is the strata title fee will cost us?

for developer, its always their advantages to keep the land title as master for as long as possible. They can use this master title to borrow $$$ and do anything evil at their whim. Process of breaker up the title to strata/individual also cost a lot of $$$, that why developer are abit reluctant to do it. It's quite normal for strata/individual title to be issued 10 years after completion.

Hello sifus

I am new here and I am interested in purchasing this one apartment but apparently the seller doesnt have the strata title. The strata title was issued by developer but the owner did not proceed to transfer the name to the title.

I was told by broker that it would took 6 months for the owner to get his name on the title before he can sell it, & another few months to transfer it to mine becos developer refuse to let us do direct transfer (according to broker becos developer 2 X fees)

Please advise if there is anything i can do or i should just give up & opt for other unit.

Thanks in advance!

Hi,
I am planning to buy a gated and guarded property which is LANDED.
Because of the gated and guarded, the title is Strata.
Can anyone please advise is this a good deal?

Better wait for the owner to transfer the title name first, unless you are getting a dirt cheap deal from the owner, then you can take a risk. If not, why this unit? Search for others.

Why this particular development? Extra rental? High appreciation? Good location? If none of the stated, then why bother looking into landed property with strata title.

This only gated and guarded project in that area, and is very high possibility of appreciation. Basically satisfy with the design, concept, facilities and etc. But I am doubt with the strata title.

thank you very much for the very good info here, which i asked before, i never got the clear answer when i was purchasing my property

in the case where already bought the property, not yet issue strata title, have you got any idea - do we need to chase on the developer to issue it asap? anyway, the property is more than 10 years in existent already, and i am not totally sure if it was issued and was not taken by the first owner...how do i proceed?

The procedure will be the same to apply strata title. Just it will recognised as Land Strata.
The most important thing is to check with the developer whether :-
1) They deposit the strata fees to Survey Board.
2) Did they charge the master title to financial institution.

Happy Housing

i have this similar case. The owner dont wanna sign the strata title because if she (malay) signs, it will be a bumi lot for a leasehold and it will be harder to be sell out. But, she explained that the strata title shouldt be a problem for transferring, how true could it be?

Thanks for the info

if i buy new leasehold apartment w/o strata title..will i be able to sell back few years later?

Hi all the Sifus here, just want to ask, will it be any difference in the time to get the key for Master title and Individual Title? What is Letter of Concent?

can anyone tell me what documents are needed for the transfer procedure..i mean the strata title

Omigod.. a lot of wrong information on this thread. Before Strata Title Act 2007 (amended), a lot of developers have excuse if they do not complete the entire project as they cannot apply for strata title until everything is complete. Since the amended, strata titles can be issued in stages of the projects.

Prior to the issuance of strata title, you can transfer the property using assignment and reassignment. Banks would normally get you to sign a reassignment and to issue them a power of attorney. Basically, the land office is not involve in this exercise. So developer consent is needed for all transfer. I have seen a lot of fallacies in this forum where people get confused with leasehold and properties that have yet to be subdivided or stratafied.

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Added on March 17, 2011, 10:59 pmFirst of all, if you have or at least attempt to have good relationship with the developer, they would have agreed with the direct transfer. It makes no sense for them to make you pay 2x the transfer fees and hence 2x the stamp duties as long as the previous vendor undertakes to indemnify the developer. I have personally done no less than 10 cases of LACA auction where some of the settlement must be within 90 days. My banker even dares to take the risks of undertaking the developer should the entire transfer f*rks up. Seriously, there is nothing too difficult about the entire process.

Once upon a time, I managed to buy a LACA property darn cheap and less than 7 days after the auction, I sold the property for a handsome profit. I sold this to a lawyer who understands the process and what we did was a "conditional SPA", of which I to get the title registered first then sell off as it was a LACA. But for me to register it to my name, I need to get the developer to transfer the title to my name from an assignment of the previous owner who has jalan kaki. The whole process took about 6 months from auction to the transfer to the new owner.

This post has been edited by michaellee: Mar 17 2011, 10:59 PM

There's no certain timeframe. Some get it fast while some still didn get it even after 20 years of waiting

If it is issued by developer, you can try to ask the developer to issue it to you directly. Consult with your lawyer for this

Strata title should not be a concern if you are confident of the place
Yes no problem. You'll need the deed of assignment