IN TELOK KURAU, there is a narrow detached house standing awkwardly by itself, perched next to a gaping construction site.
It used to be a semi-detached house, part of a block of four.
But the neighbours have sold theirs, moved out and the homes destroyed to make way for a five-storey condominium.
The awkward 'half house' is the result of a year-long dispute between its owner and three former neighbours - and a small clause in the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) rules.
Madam Teo Ing Lien, 56, a businesswoman who occupies the lone house with her family, claims her neighbours and developer Primelot Properties conspired to leave her out of the en bloc sale.
Primelot and her three neighbours in turn accuse her of trying to hold them all to ransom to secure a higher price.
Madam Teo thought she had a secure bargaining position. A clause in URA regulations stipulates any plot left behind after an en bloc sale cannot be smaller than 600 sq m. Madam Teo's two-storey house sits on a 418 sq m plot.
However, this condition can be waived if the owner left behind has been informed of the limited development potential of her small plot and all home owners in the deal failed to reach an agreement after extensive discussion.
According to Madam Teo, there was no extensive discussion. She claimed she was only told about the deal once, in 2004.
'Then there was no news for a few weeks after the meeting. Then the next thing I knew, there was an agent coming telling us that the other three had already sold their houses,' she said.
She believes her neighbours played her out. Primelot, she says, only made two identical offers of $1.68 million for the house, despite her making a counter-offer of $2.3 million.
Primelot claims it made at least five offers for the house and the three other home owners claim they tried very hard to include her from the beginning.
'We wanted that house to be part of the deal. It doesn't make sense not to,' said retiree Ang See Beng, 65, who lived in the adjoining house. 'If we sold as four, we were offered $1.8 million each. Without her, the price is $1.68 million each.'
Throughout the ordeal, both the developer and Madam Teo were writing to URA to argue their case. In September last year, URA sided with the developer and allowed the three-house en bloc sale, satisfied that the 'extensive discussion' provision of the clause had been fulfilled.
Madam Teo says she is paying a high price for being left out. What was once their party wall now has water seepage problems. Cracks are also appearing on her walls and ceiling from all the demolition work next door.
'When they start work, the whole house starts vibrating,' she says.
Things were falling off the shelves and a ceiling lamp cover even fell and hit her Indonesian maid on the head.
She is now commissioning a structural engineer to assess the damage to the 14-year-old house, but holds out little hope of ever being able to sell it.
'The land is too narrow for us to knock it down and rebuild. Who wants to buy this house now? It's half a house.'
jeremyau@sph.com.sg
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