Strata Titles Board dismisses Robinson Suites shop owner's bid to remove vending machines
A Singapore condominium shop owner has lost its legal challenge against vending machines installed outside its units at Robinson Suites. The Strata Titles Board ruled the management corporation had the authority to lease common property and ordered the owner to pay S$10,000 in costs.
Boon Trading Pte Ltd, which owns three ground-floor commercial units at Robinson Suites, has failed in its bid before the Strata Titles Boards to have vending machines and trash bins removed from the common corridor outside its shops. The Strata Titles Boards dismissed all three applications brought by the company, which had argued that the machines blocked views through its storefront windows and hurt its tenants' businesses.
Robinson Suites, at 50 Robinson Road, comprises 170 units, including 167 residential units and three commercial units. Boon Trading's units house a stationery store, a stockbroking firm and a clinic. The dispute began after the condominium's management corporation installed eight vending machines along the covered common corridor outside the shops between May 2025 and May 2026 and placed trash bins beside them.
At its annual general meeting in April 2023, the management corporation had secured approval to lease all or part of the building's common property for periods of one to three years. Boon Trading director Koe Kyin Hoon said the machines obstructed views of the shops and blocked natural light, affecting tenants' businesses and prompting one tenant to seek a rent reduction.
The company applied to the Strata Titles Boards in April 2026 to invalidate the 2023 resolution, arguing that it failed to specify which parts of the common property could be leased. It also sought orders requiring the removal of the vending machines and trash bins and barring the management corporation from placing other objects that could obstruct the storefront windows in the future.
The Strata Titles Boards found that the 2023 resolution clearly authorised the management corporation to lease all or part of the common property. It also noted that management had informed Koe of its plans before installing the machines and had given the shop tenants a chance to rent the space themselves. The STB ordered Boon Trading to pay the management corporation S$8,000 in legal costs and S$2,000 in disbursements.
On Sept. 11, 2026, the management corporation removed two vending machines and repositioned the rest, increasing the unobstructed glass frontage of each of two shops to 80.5 per cent.
