Buyers of Pearl Hill townhouses have consented to paying RM2,000 for each "private staircase" to the developer who imposed the extra charge nine years after the signing of the sale and purchase agreements.

The developer, Pearl Hill Sdn Bhd represented by Westmont Property Management Sdn Bhd, had initially asked for between several thousand ringgit to RM30,000 for each staircase in May last year.

Pearl Hill action committee chairman Lim Kean Hock said the developer sent a notice to the committee in late February informing them of a reduction of charges to RM2,000.

"We were about to start collecting funds from buyers to hire a lawyer to sue the developer when we received the fax informing us of the reduction.

"Though we stood a good chance of winning, most of us consented to paying RM2,000 each just to avoid the hassle of going to court," Lim said, adding that the committee represented 24 buyers.

The dispute started last year when some 50 buyers received letters from the developer's lawyer asking them to pay up to RM30,000, depending on the built-up area of the staircases in their split-level units.

Top floor owners had to pay for three flights of stairs while those on the lowest floor had to pay for two flights of stairs.

Only houseowners on the middle floor were exempted as their units are on road level.

Lim, who owns a unit on the top floor, was initially charged about RM19,000 for his 111sq ft staircase.

Action committee secretary Alan Tan earlier claimed that the developer had applied Clause 11 of the S&P in "the narrowest sense" to impose the extra charges.

Clause 11 states that the purchase price could be adjusted if measurements, boundaries and area as shown in the building plan is different from that shown in the strata title when issued.

Following protests, the developer offered a 25% discount on the initial charges but this was rejected by buyers.

Lim said the matter had been settled and many houseowners had already paid the RM2,000.