Residential Property (Amendment) Act 2010

12 Jan 2011 Posted in Press releases

1. The Residential Property (Amendment) Act 2010, enacted by Parliament on 22 November 2010, will come into force on 17 January 2011.

2. The key amendments to the Residential Property Act (RPA) are:
   1. Currently, foreign developers (given approval under the RPA to acquire or retain land for residential development) who fail to complete their residential developments within a stipulated Project Completion Period may have their Banker’s Guarantee forfeited. With the amendments, in addition, an extension charge will be levied on them for any extension of time beyond the Project Completion Period. The extension charge framework is essentially the same as the extension premium scheme that applies to the sale of sites under the Government Land Sales programme today.
   2. For unauthorised disposal of a restricted residential property during the non-disposal period, the fine will be raised to a maximum of $200,000. As an additional safeguard, the Controller of Residential Property will be empowered to lodge a caveat on restricted residential properties purchased pursuant to an approval granted under the RPA.
   3. For unauthorised rental of a restricted residential property, the previous criminal sanction will be removed and replaced by a financial penalty of up to three times the rental income earned over the period of breach, or $10,000, whichever is higher.
   4. Individuals who renounce or lose their Singapore Citizenship or Permanent Residency will be required to dispose of their restricted residential properties within two years.
   5. Executors or administrators of the estate of deceased restricted residential property owners will have five years, instead of ten years previously, to dispose of the foreign beneficiaries’ interest in a restricted residential property if the beneficiaries do not qualify for approval under the RPA.

Last updated on 25 Nov 2012