Land Policy & Administration

Land Policy & Administration

In land scarce Singapore, optimising the use of land resources is integral to sustaining Singapore’s economic and social growth.

MinLaw formulates and reviews the following policies to support the optimal use of land resources:

• Residential Property Act
  • The Residential Property Act (RPA) strikes a balance between ensuring that the limited supply of landed residential properties in Singapore remains the primary preserve of Singapore Citizens, whilst allowing selected foreigners who have demonstrated social commitment and are making a significant economic contribution to Singapore to also own landed homes. Foreigners who wish to purchase landed residential properties have to submit an application to the Land Dealings Approval Unit at the Singapore Land Authority (SLA).
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to purchase of landed residential property by foreigners under the RPA.
• Land Acquisition Act
  • The Land Acquisition Act (LAA) is a key legislation that enables the compulsory acquisition of private land for public purposes, such as the building of transportation infrastructure and public housing. Landowners whose lands are acquired are paid market value compensation under the LAA.
• Land Titles (Strata) Act
  • The sale of private strata developments in en bloc sales, or collective sales, facilitates redevelopment and supports urban rejuvenation. The requirements and procedures for an en bloc sale by majority consent are governed by the Land Titles (Strata) Act.
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to collective sale.

MinLaw is also the guardian of State land. Its Statutory Board, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), manages approximately 11,000 hectares of State land and 5,000 State buildings.

SLA provides the following land administration services:

• Selling and leasing land to the public and private sector, and allocating land to support national development
  • The SLA facilitates the sale and leasing of State land to both the public and private sectors for various uses, such as public housing, industrial development, community uses. The integrity of the land allocation and administration process is critical to meet ever-changing socio-economic needs, and to maintain confidence in land transactions.
• Registration of land and property transactions and the issuance and guarantee of land titles in Singapore
  • Land rights are of vital social and economic importance, because they form the basis on which many economic and business activities can take place. The high level of home and property ownership in Singapore also necessitates a secure land titles registration system. Land titles records are maintained by the SLA, the national land registration authority for property transactions and the issuance and guarantee of land titles in Singapore.
• Managing and collating digitised information on Singapore's roads and MRT networks, property boundaries, outlines of public housing and industrial buildings
  • SLA makes available information to the public through the following services:
  • OneMap
    OneMap is an integrated online geospatial platform that provides reliable, timely and accurate location-based information and services to the public. Use OneMap for street directory information as well as services such as LandQuery, SchoolQuery and PopulationQuery, amongst others.
  • Integrated Land Information Service (INLIS)
    Use this one-stop internet portal which provides information on land matters such as road line plans, survey plans and property boundaries. In addition, INLIS provides information on property such as ownership of property, property transaction history and surrounding amenities.
• Maintaining the national land survey system
  • SLA administers the national land survey system which provides the fundamental information about land in Singapore. It establishes and maintains geodetic reference system and infrastructure to support all land survey and geospatial activities. SLA regulates the process of property boundaries survey (known as the cadastral survey), which is now based on co-ordinates. The Land Surveyors Board provides for the registration of surveyors. It is also responsible for setting and maintaining standards for registered surveyors, and regulating and advancing the practice of land surveying in Singapore.

Video: Land Policy and Administration

Last updated on 21 Jun 2018