High Court ruling allows MCST to inspect resident’s home

The High Court recently upheld a decision by the Strata Titles Board to allow the Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) of a mixed-use development to enter a resident’s home to assess if renovation works had damaged common property.

The board had decided that the MCST did not need definitive proof to enter the home and said there was a low bar for such entry requests.

The case involves a unit at Highland Centre in Yio Chu Kang Road that was undergoing renovation in August 2022.

Highland Centre’s MCST had applied to the Strata Titles Board to inspect the property after it was concerned the works might have damaged common property in the building. The home owners challenged the board’s decision in court.

The drama began in August 2022 when a pipe in the unit burst and the resident called in the managing agent to inspect the issue. When the managing agent’s employee inspected the unit, he noticed extensive wall hacking had been done.

Concerned about the damage caused, the MCST consulted a professional engineer, who warned them that any hacked structural elements could impact the building’s integrity.

At the time, the home owners, Mr Tan Wei Loong and his wife, Ms Chin Lei Tze, had agreed in their renovation application to allow the MCST to inspect the unit after works were completed, but they later refused to allow the MCST to do so in March 2023.

The MCST then applied to the Strata Titles Board to get an order to inspect the unit. It was granted permission to do so in June 2024.

Though the MCST had no direct proof of damage to common property, the board determined that “some concern” over potential impacts on common property was a sufficient threshold to grant entry.

Appealing to the High Court, the owners argued that property access should require concrete evidence of unauthorised work and raised privacy concerns.

In September, the High Court upheld the board’s decision, pointing out that while the MCST does not need definitive proof, it must show a “reasonable basis” for concern.

The court ruled that the MCST had a “strong prima facie case” and refusing it access would unfairly prioritise individual property rights over community safety.

“Kelvin (the managing agent’s employee) may have been sketchy on the details of his observations, but he did remember seeing most of the internal walls hacked. This, in the board’s view, is sufficient to constitute some probative evidence to form the basis for the request for access to the unit,” noted the board’s ruling released on June 20.

The MCST was represented by Mr Daniel Chen and Mr Drashy Trivedi of Lee & Lee. Mr Chen said the ruling was significant because it meant that even if an MCST has no direct evidence of an issue in a private strata unit that required rectification work, it can in certain situations access the unit to do checks.

He added that an MCST’s right to access private strata units extends beyond access to do work, and can include access to inspect the unit to determine if work is necessary.

The ruling has sparked concern over rights to property access and privacy.

Mr S.K. Cheah, a retiree with about 20 years of experience on various management councils, acknowledged the practical need for the ruling but raised concerns over potential misuse.

“There’s a clear rationale for this latitude. But without safeguards, it could open the door to abuse,” he said.

Mr Chen pointed out that safeguards have been provided for by the High Court, including that the MCST must have “reasonable concerns formed on a reasonable basis” that an inspection is needed to determine if any work needs to be done.

Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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