SINGAPORE: Condominium by-laws cannot restrict owners’ right to rent out their properties, said the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) on Friday (June 26).
It added that the power to make by-laws is intended to regulate the management and use of common property within the development.
If there are disputes over the validity of by-laws, owners may go to the Strata Titles Boards with their case, it said.
The authority was weighing in on the case of a Geylang condo that passed two by-laws banning certain groups of foreign workers from living there.
The Straits Times reported on June 17 that affected owners of Casa Aerata – most of whom have rented their units to companies – said they received legal letters in April stating that they had breached a by-law by allowing work permit holders in the construction sector to live in their units.
According to the by-law passed by the 78-unit condo’s management corporation strata title (MCST) in March 2025, units cannot be used to house work permit holders. The same by-law also states that they cannot house any other persons for less than three months.
But BCA said in a Facebook post on June 26 that by-laws made by MCSTs – which govern strata-titled private properties such as condos – cannot restrict an owner’s right to transfer, lease, mortgage or otherwise deal with a property.
Instead, MCSTs are empowered by the Building (Strata Management) Act to decide how best to manage, maintain or improve the common property of the estate.
Owners own their individual units while collectively sharing ownership and responsibility for the common property, BCA added.
Day-to-day management of the MCST is overseen by a management council, an elected body comprising owners, and MCSTs may make by-laws to regulate the management and use of common property within the development.
Another by-law, passed at Casa Aerata in January 2026, states that only “eligible foreign employees” are allowed to rent units.
They include Employment Pass and S Pass holders, as well as work permit holders who are Malaysian or work in the services sector.
Owners were given until March 31 to “make the necessary amendments to existing tenancy agreements if they do not comply with the new by-laws”.
They were told they would be charged an administrative fee of S$200 for non-compliance and that further legal action might be taken against them.
BCA said that if owners wish to amend or repeal enacted by-laws, they can table a motion at the MCST’s annual general meeting or an extraordinary general meeting.
They can also approach the Strata Titles Boards if there are disputes over the validity of the by-law. The Strata Titles Boards is a specialised tribunal that hears disputes in MCST developments, including disputes over the validity of by-laws.
Home owners in Casa Aerata told ST that they are currently considering their options.
They had questioned the validity of these by-laws, especially since only 12 owners had attended the general meeting where the first by-law was passed.
Kok Yee Keong, a partner at Harry Elias Partnership, had earlier told ST that a by-law is valid even if it was passed by only a minority of owners in the development, as long as they represent 75 per cent of the share value of those attending the general meeting.
All the procedural steps in passing it must also be met.
These include a 21-day notice of the general meeting given to owners, and waiting 30 minutes before proceeding with the general meeting if the quorum is not reached, said Kok, who is not involved in the case. - The Straits Times/ANN
