Geylang Condo Casa Aerata Owners and Management at Odds Over Foreign Worker Housing Ban

The management council of Casa Aerata, a 78-unit condominium in Geylang, has faced pushback from some owners after it passed two by-laws banning certain groups of foreign workers from living there. The affected owners, most of whom rent their units to companies, said they received legal letters from the condo’s management corporation strata title (MCST) in April.

The letters stated they had breached a by-law passed more than a year before, in March 2025, which stipulates that units cannot be used to house work permit holders. The same by-law also states that units cannot house any other persons for less than three months.

A second by-law, passed in January 2026, states that only “eligible foreign employees” are allowed to rent units. These 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 $200 for non-compliance, and that further legal action might be taken against them.

Owners questioned the validity of the by-laws, especially since only 12 owners had attended the general meeting at which the first by-law was passed. An extraordinary general meeting to pass the first by-law was attended by 12 owners comprising 61 share values out of a total of 426. A total of 80 per cent, or 44 shares, voted in favour of it. One owner, comprising six shares, did not vote.

One lawyer not involved in the case told The Straits Times that such by-laws are valid even if passed by a minority, as long as they represent 75 per cent of the share value of those attending the general meeting. Kok Yee Keong, a partner at Harry Elias Partnership, said owners who object can challenge the by-law or go to the Strata Titles Boards with their case.

Some owners said they had missed the letter informing them of the meeting, adding that its outcome should not be taken as representative of all owners’ views. Residents said they did not get detailed minutes for the meeting to pass the second by-law, although the MCST spokesman said it was more well attended than the first.

Twelve owners have been served legal letters, and two of them have since agreed to evict their tenants, a spokeswoman for the MCST said. She added that the first by-law was passed because some workers had caused disamenities such as littering and leaving bulky items in common areas. Some units were also infested with cockroaches, had appliances connected to power sockets in a way that could pose a fire hazard, or were overcrowded with workers, she claimed.

An owner known only as L, 48, said he had received approval from the Manpower Ministry and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to rent out his two-bedroom unit to a construction firm about two years ago. The firm had been housing six workers in the unit. After receiving the legal letter, new workers who moved into the unit at the end of May were rejected by the MCST via the condo’s facial recognition system. The workers have been unable to enter from the side gate, and a function to open the gate remotely via the condo’s app has also been disabled.

According to the Ministry of Manpower’s website, private properties such as condos are allowed to house all foreign employees, although owners who are renting out their unit for the first time must declare the tenancy with the ministry. They are subject to URA’s occupancy cap of six unrelated persons per property for homes smaller than 90 sq m.