On 24/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 24/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 24/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 31/07/2009.
PART III
APPROVAL TO PURCHASE, ACQUIRE OR RETAIN RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
25.
—(1) For the purposes of this Act, there shall be a committee to be known as the Residential Property Advisory Committee which shall consist of a Chairman and such number of other members as the Minister may, from time to time, appoint for such period as he may think fit. Any member so appointed who ceases to be a member shall be eligible for reappointment.
(2) Subject to subsection (14), any foreign person who desires to purchase, acquire or retain any estate or interest in any residential property other than non-restricted residential property shall apply to the Minister through the Controller for the grant of the Minister’s approval to acquire or to retain residential property, as the case may be.
[9/2006]
(3) Every such application shall be in such form and shall state such particulars as the Controller may require.
[9/2006]
(4) The Controller shall forward every such application to the Committee; and after consideration thereof, the Committee shall make recommendations thereon to the Minister who may, in his discretion, grant, with or without conditions (or refuse to grant), approval —
(a)
for the purchase or acquisition of the estate or interest in the residential property in respect of which the application was made or for the retention of such estate or interest; or
(b)
for the purchase or acquisition of the estate or interest in residential property of such class or nature as the applicant may desire to purchase or acquire.
(5) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers of the Minister under subsection (4), he may, in his discretion, grant approval, with or without conditions, to any applicant, being a natural person, who intends to purchase or acquire residential property for the purpose of his own occupation and that of his family as a dwelling-house and not for the purpose of rental or any other purpose; and for the purposes of this subsection “an applicant” means one —
(a)
who is a permanent resident;
(b)
who, in the opinion of the Minister, is of economic benefit to Singapore or who, in the opinion of the Minister, makes or is able to make an adequate economic contribution to Singapore; or
(c)
who, not being a citizen, possesses professional or other qualifications or experience which, in the opinion of the Minister, are of value or of benefit or advantageous to Singapore.
(6) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers of the Minister under subsection (4), he may grant approval, with or without conditions, to an applicant, being a foreign company or a foreign limited liability partnership which —
(a)
in the opinion of the Minister —
(i)
is of economic benefit to Singapore; or
(ii)
makes or is able to make an adequate economic contribution to Singapore; and
(b)
intends to purchase or acquire, or retain any interest in, residential property for the purpose of occupation as a dwelling-house by its executives, managers, partners, employees or other personnel and their families and not for any other purpose.
[17/2005]
(7) The conditions that the Minister may impose under subsection (4), (5) or (6) shall include all or any of the following:
(a)
that the applicant —
(i)
being a natural person, shall use the residential property for his own occupation and that of his family as a dwelling-house and not for any other purpose; or
(ii)
being a foreign company or a foreign limited liability partnership, shall use the residential property for occupation as a dwelling-house by its executives, managers, partners, employees or other personnel and their families and not for any other purpose;
(b)
that the applicant shall provide such security as may be determined by the Minister for the purposes of complying with any condition imposed by the Minister;
(c)
that the applicant shall give an undertaking in writing to comply with the conditions imposed by the Minister.
[9/2006]
(7A) Where an applicant has failed to comply with any of the conditions imposed by the Minister under this section, the Minister may forfeit the security provided by the applicant under this section after giving 21 days’ notice in writing to the applicant of his intention to forfeit the security and the grounds thereof.
[9/2006]
(7B) An applicant may, upon receipt of the notice under subsection (7A), appeal to the Minister within 3 months of such notice.
[9/2006]
(7C) The decision of the Minister on any appeal made under subsection (7B) shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court.
[9/2006]
(8) Any natural person or any foreign company or foreign limited liability partnership who or which is in breach of any undertaking given pursuant to subsection (7) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.
[17/2005]
(9) (a) Every applicant referred to in subsection (5) shall furnish a declaration as to whether the applicant or the applicant’s spouse or any of their children owns residential property in Singapore, and if so shall state full particulars thereof.
[9/2006]
(b)
Every applicant referred to in subsection (6) shall furnish a declaration as to whether the applicant owns residential property in Singapore, and if so shall state full particulars thereof; and such declaration shall —
(i)
where the applicant is a foreign company, be made by a director, manager or secretary thereof or a person holding an analogous position; and
(10) Nothing in this section shall be construed as detracting from or prejudicing in any way the power conferred on the Minister by subsection (4) to approve or to refuse to approve any application.
(11) The decision of the Minister to approve or to refuse to approve any application shall be conveyed to the applicant by the Controller by notice in writing.
(12) Where the Minister has refused an application and the Controller has conveyed the Minister’s decision by notice in writing to the applicant, the applicant may, within a period of 3 months of the date of the notice (or such later period as the Minister may allow in the circumstances of any particular case), make representations to the Minister against his decision; and if the applicant makes representations within that period (including any extension which may be allowed), the Minister, having considered those representations, shall direct the Controller to convey to the applicant his decision to accept or to reject the representations.
(13) The decision of the Minister to approve or to refuse to approve any application or, if any representations are made pursuant to subsection (12), his decision to accept or reject the representations, shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court.
(14) Where a foreign person is a natural person or a society, he or it shall not be required to make application for the retention of any estate or interest in any residential property vested in him or it immediately before 11th September 1973.
Application for approval by Singapore entity with residential properties to become converted entity and for retention of its residential properties
26.
—(1) Any Singapore entity which, pursuant to section 9, intends to seek the prior written approval of the Minister for its conversion to a converted entity, and for the retention of all its estate or interest in all or in one or more of its residential properties, not being non-restricted residential properties, which the Singapore entity intends should remain vested in the converted entity upon such conversion, shall make application to the Controller, in such form as he may require, for the grant of approval for such conversion and for such retention.
(2) Every such application shall state such particulars as the Controller may require.
(3) The Controller shall forward every such application to the Committee; and after consideration thereof, the Committee shall make recommendations thereon to the Minister who may, in his discretion, grant, with or without conditions (or refuse to grant), approval for —
(a)
the conversion of the Singapore entity to a converted entity; and
(b)
the retention of all or one or more of its residential properties in respect of which it has made application therefor.
[17/2005]
(4) The Minister may direct that all the residential properties that are not non-restricted residential properties in respect of which approval was not granted under subsection (3)(b) shall be transferred to any citizen or approved purchaser.
[9/2006]
(5) Section 25(6) to (13) shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to every application made under subsection (1) for the retention of any estate or interest in such residential property.
[9/2006]
27.
—(1) Where the Minister has at any time before or after 1st October 1982 —
(a)
granted his approval under section 25, 26 or 31 to any foreign person to purchase, acquire or retain any estate or interest in any residential property that is not non-restricted residential property;
(b)
exempted, pursuant to section 32, any foreign person from all or any of the provisions of this Act;
(c)
granted his approval under section 28 to any foreign person for a change of use of any land owned by that foreign person; or
(d)
granted his approval under section 28A to any foreign person for the development of any land,
subject to any condition imposed by the Minister and the Minister is satisfied that that person has failed to comply with the condition, he may, by direction in writing, require the person named therein to dispose of his estate or interest in the residential property by transferring his estate or interest to any citizen or approved purchaser within a period of not less than 6 months of the date of service of the direction by the Minister.
[9/2006]
(2) A direction given by the Minister under subsection (1) shall be served on the Controller and the person named therein and the subsisting mortgagees and chargees (if any) of the residential property who appear as such on the relevant records in the Land Titles Registry or the Registry of Deeds of the Authority, as the case may be.
[9/2006]
(3) Where a person who has been directed under subsection (1) to dispose of his estate or interest in any residential property or land fails to satisfy the Controller that he has transferred his estate or interest within the period specified in subsection (1) or within any further period extended by the Minister, the Minister may issue to the Controller a notice to attach and sell the estate or interest in that residential property or land, and a copy of that notice shall be served on —
(a)
the owner of the residential property or land; and
(b)
each subsisting mortgagee or chargee (if any) who appears as such in the relevant records in the Land Titles Registry or the Registry of Deeds of the Authority, as the case may be.
[9/2006]
28.
—(1) Where any foreign person is the owner or purchaser of any land other than residential property prior to 11th September 1973, or has after that date acquired or purchased any such land, that foreign person shall be required to make application to the Minister (through the Controller) for the grant of approval to change the existing use of such land (whether it is land, a house, a building or other premises or part thereof) to use for any purpose other than industrial or commercial, prior to his making an application to the competent authority, appointed under the Planning Act (Cap. 232), for such change; and such foreign person shall not be granted permission under that Act for such change of use unless he has been granted approval by the Minister for the change.
[9/2006]
(2) The Minister may, when granting any approval under subsection (1), impose such conditions as he thinks fit, including all or any of the following:
(a)
that the applicant shall provide such security as may be determined by the Minister for the purposes of complying with any condition imposed by the Minister;
(b)
that the applicant shall give an undertaking in writing to comply with the conditions imposed by the Minister.
[9/2006]
(3) Where an applicant has failed to comply with any of the conditions imposed by the Minister under this section, the Minister may forfeit the security provided by the applicant under this section after giving 21 days’ notice in writing to the applicant of his intention to forfeit the security and the grounds thereof.
[9/2006]
(4) An applicant may, upon receipt of the notice under subsection (3), appeal to the Minister within 3 months of such notice.
[9/2006]
(5) The decision of the Minister on any appeal made under subsection (4) shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court.
[9/2006]
28A.
—(1) Where any foreign person is the owner of any vacant land (whether or not with a vacant or disused building or structure thereon) which has been —
(a)
zoned for any of the purposes declared to be industrial, commercial or non-residential by the Minister under paragraph (iv) of the definition of “residential property” in section 2(1); and
(b)
rezoned at any time on or after 1st April 1998 pursuant to any alteration to the Master Plan (other than an alteration made in relation to any application for permission to develop under the Planning Act (Cap. 232)) and is still zoned for a purpose other than that declared under that paragraph (iv) by the Minister,
that foreign person —
(i)
shall be required to make an application to the Minister through the Controller for the grant of approval to develop the land for that purpose prior to his making an application to the competent authority appointed under the Planning Act for permission to develop; and
(ii)
shall not be granted planning permission or conservation permission unless he has been granted prior approval by the Minister in accordance with this section.
[3/98; 9/2006]
(2) A certification by the competent authority appointed under the Planning Act certifying that an alteration to the Master Plan was approved by the Minister in relation to an application for planning permission or conservation permission under that Act shall be conclusive evidence of the matters stated therein.
[3/98]
(3) The Minister may, when granting any approval under subsection (1), impose such conditions as he may think fit, including the following:
(a)
that the foreign person shall provide such security as may be determined by the Minister for the purpose of complying with any condition imposed by the Minister; and
(b)
that the foreign person shall give an undertaking in writing to comply with the conditions imposed by the Minister.
[3/98]
(4) Where an applicant has failed to comply with any of the conditions imposed by the Minister under this section, the Minister may forfeit the security provided by the applicant under this section after giving 21 days’ notice in writing to the applicant of his intention to forfeit the security and the grounds thereof.
[3/98]
(5) An applicant may, within 3 months of the receipt of the notice under subsection (4), appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court.
[3/98]