While a lack of new supply in private developments and more favourable loan interest rates for potential buyers may feed developers' appetite to build more, the price to pay for a collective land sale could prove too much for them.

This general view shows a private residential complex and the financial district in Singapore. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)

SINGAPORE: Many residents at The Tanamera condominium are weary of en blocs after three failed attempts without any breakthrough.

A consensus has been tough to reach, given the various needs of unit owners there.

Some want to move while others enjoy the convenience of their location - close to Tanah Merah MRT Station, hawker centres and a wet market, said the condominium’s collective sales committee chairman Pooba Mahalingam.

Another challenge is that some of the units are not occupied by their owners, he said.

“Such a response makes the job very difficult … because if everybody says they're waiting for 70 per cent, then we will never achieve it.”

Collective sales require the support of a majority of owners. For developments under 10 years old, at least 90 per cent of owners must agree, while a slightly lower proportion of owners - 80 per cent - must agree for developments 10 years or older like The Tanamera.