Under Singapore law, private housing estates can be sold collectively with the approval of owners representing at least 90 percent of the value of buildings less than a decade old and those with 80 percent of the value of buildings over 10 years old.

Shunmugam Jayakumar, Singapore's Minister of Law, told parliament that rules on future collective property sales would be amended to require additional owner consent.

The new rules will require that sales in addition have approval from owners of at least 90 percent of a development's area space for buildings under 10 years old and 80 percent for older buildings. Also individual owners will be able rescind on agreement to sell their homes within five days of signing.

The proposals come a month after the city state raised a re-zoning tax on developers.

"The government has also accepted a number of additional changes that will further enhance transparency and procedural clarity as well as offer better protection to the owners of affected developments," Jayakumar said.

Private home prices in Singapore have soared to their highest levels in nearly a decade, spurring developers such as CapitaLand and City Developments to buy entire estates in prime districts in order to replace them with denser and more expensive apartments.

Such residential redevelopment deals have made overnight millionaires out of some homeowners but have also resulted in legal spats between neighbours.

A consortium of developers led by Hotel Properties is suing some 250 home owners for S$4 million each after a botched collective sale of their housing estate

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