Deeds and misdeeds: 6,000 owners fall flat in condominiums

Owners of flats in a shocking 236 condominiums —a majority of them in Colombo — do not hold deeds to their properties, statistics show. These buildings contain nearly 6,000 housing units and have not been certified by the Condominium Management Authority for various reasons. As a result, their developers are prevented from lodging the Deeds of Declaration with the Land Registry, a procedure that would allow them to transfer ownership of the flats to respective buyers.

One of the main reasons why condominiums are not certified by the CMA is that local authorities have declined to issue certificates of conformity (COC) upon completion. This document offers proof that the buildings meet minimum regulatory, technical and safety requirements. CMA officials said many of the affected developers had deviated from approved construction plans midway. This precluded them from obtaining COCs, a mandatory requirement for CMA approval.

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(Source: Sunday Times)

Dip in Sri Lankan property prices

There has been a dip in the Sri Lankan property prices for Q2 2015, according to the House Price Index published by LankaPropertyWeb.com. Overall house sale prices, land sale prices and commercial building sale prices showed a dip; with only the apartment sales showing a slight increase of 0.7% compared to Q2 2014. 

The full House Price Index can be viewed from here.

Condo developers association formed in Sri Lanka

Developers in the condo market have come together to form the Condominium Developers Association of Sri Lanka (CDASL).

Founding council members of CDASL are Pravir Samarasinghe – Chairman (from Overseas Realty Ceylon Plc-ORL); S. Thumilan – Vice Chairman (Blue Ocean Residencies Pvt. Ltd); Hemaka De Alwis (Fairway Holdings Ltd); Suresh Rajendra (Whittall Boustead Pvt Lt); Prasanna De Zoysa (SMI Housing Development Pvt Ltd); Pinsiri Fernando (Suncity Property Developers Pvt Ltd); Kishore Reddy (Quest & Query Pvt Ltd); B. Premalal (Prime Land Pvt Ltd) and Lalitha Jayasooriya (Gampaha District Sanasa & Credit Cooperative Societies Union Ltd).

A media release issued by ORL on behalf of the association said its primary objective is to promote the interest of condominium developers in Sri Lanka, whilst working towards the development of the industry. CDASL is an affiliated association of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce which was founded in 1839.

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(Source: Sunday Times)

Sri Lanka’s Access Engineering buys property firms for Rs523.6mn

Access Engineering Ltd. said it has invested 523.6 million rupees to buy into two property companies developing land in a suburb of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.

The construction firm invested 273.6 million for 100 percent control of Horizon Holdings Ventures (Pvt) Ltd., a company incorporated in June 2015, a stock exchange filing said.

Access Engineering also invested 250 million rupees for a 50 percent share in Horizon Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd., a firm incorporated in March 2014.

Both firms are in the business of developing their 12.5 acre property located in Malabe, a fast-growing suburb of Colombo.

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(Source: EconomyNext)

Hyatt heist!

-Initial cost of Rs. 13 b doubles due to massive mismanagement including 
-Rs. 5 b EPF funds
-Former board had no formal meetings, contracts doled out with no tender procedure 
-Rs. 300 m spent on H’tota Hyatt even before start, project to be cancelled by new officials 
-Colombo Hyatt to open by 2017 after three-year delay

A forensic audit into the Hyatt hotels in Colpetty and Hambantota has uncovered mass fraud resulting in initial cost estimates more than doubling from Rs. 13 billion to Rs. 27 billion and the company facing a shortfall of nearly Rs. 9 billion to complete the project, its new director board said yesterday.  

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(Source: Daily Mirror)

Criminal probe for Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, Litro Gas hotel deal