1. ) AHMAD HUSAIRI BIN ALI 2. ) MOHAMED TAJUDEEN BIN CHOWKKADALI 3. ) NALINI BINTI HASBULLAH 4. ) CHAI AI LIN 5. ) DINA MARIE RODRIGUES 6. ) LEE YI LIN 7. ) CHONG YIN FEN 8. ) AZHAR AZLAN BIN O-I-ASHRAF ALI 9. ) MOHAMMAD IBRAHIM SHAH 10. ) SYED MUHAMMAD RAFIE BIN SYED SALIM 11. ) ROSNAH BINTI NGAH 12. ) CHENG TZAI TECK 13. ) ANG YEN TENG 14. ) TEH HEOW SENG 15. ) KOEK KIM KEE 16. ) RAHSIDI BIN HUSSAIN 17. ) MARHAMAH BINTI MOHAMAD 18. ) SIAU PHAIK CHEE 19. ) LIM CHEE KHAN 20. ) NAJ CORPORATION...

Case Significance

Illustrates that a developer's failure to obtain and deliver individual strata titles within a reasonable time may be enforced by a decree of specific performance and an award of damages to each purchaser for loss of enjoyment as registered strata owners.

This High Court decision concerns a claim by purchasers of condominium units against the developer for its failure to obtain and deliver the individual strata titles to their units. The plaintiffs, purchasers of units in the "Ampang Boulevard Condominium", commenced the action after waiting between eight and eighteen years since their purchases for their strata titles, suing the developer, Suditasia (M) Sdn Bhd, for breach of its obligations under the sale and purchase agreements and the Strata Titles Act 1985. The central issues were whether the developer had breached its obligation to obtain the individual strata titles, whether it had failed to apply for and obtain those titles within a reasonable time, and whether the plaintiffs had suffered loss as a result — including the deprivation of their enjoyment of the property as registered strata owners, their inability to establish a management corporation while the developer remained registered proprietor of the master title, and the risk to their interests should the developer face legal problems. Having considered the pleadings, evidence and submissions, the court allowed the plaintiffs' claim. It granted a decree of specific performance requiring the developer to complete the subdivision of the building and deliver the strata titles for each unit, awarded damages of RM10,000.00 to each plaintiff — the only loss established at trial being the deprivation of the use and enjoyment of the property as registered strata owners — with interest at 5% per annum from the date the writ was filed until full realisation, and ordered costs of RM30,000.00 to be paid by the developer to the plaintiffs, subject to allocatur. The judgment illustrates that purchasers may enforce, by specific performance and damages, a developer's statutory and contractual duty to deliver individual strata titles within a reasonable time. The court rejected the developer's attempts to justify the prolonged delay, holding that a purchaser is entitled to have the subdivision completed and the strata title delivered within a reasonable time, rather than being left indefinitely dependent on the holder of the master title.