Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 24/1984

Read the first time on 24th July 1984.

An Act to amend the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act (Chapter 250 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) (Amendment) Act 1984 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

New section 8A

2. The Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 8, the following section:

“Licensed housing developer to open and maintain Project Account

8A.—(1) Subject to subsection (10) every licensed housing developer shall open and keep an account (referred to in this Act as a Project Account) with a bank or finance company for each building project undertaken by the licensed housing developer.

(2) Where a building project has been approved by the competent authority under the Planning Act (Cap. 279) to be developed in phases, the Controller of Housing may, on the application of the licensed housing developer, allow the licensed housing developer to open and keep a Project Account under subsection (1) for each phase of such building project.

(3) The licensed housing developer shall pay into the Project Account of a building project the purchase monies received by the licensed housing developer from the sale of the units in the building project and which are required by rules made under this Act to be paid into the Project Account.

(4) The licensed housing developer shall not withdraw any money from the Project Account except as authorised by rules made under this Act.

(5) Subject to subsection (6)(b), all monies in the Project Account shall, notwithstanding any other written law to the contrary, be deemed not to form part of the property of the licensed housing developer in the event —

(a)	the licensed housing developer enters into any composition or arrangement with his creditors or has a receiving order or adjudication order made against him; or
(b)	the licensed housing developer being a company goes into voluntary or compulsory liquidation.

(6) Upon the happening of any of the events referred to in subsection (5) —

(a)

the monies in the Project Account shall vest in the official receiver, trustee in bankruptcy or liquidator, as the case may be, to be applied for all or any of the purposes for which monies in the Project Account are authorised by rules made under this Act to be withdrawn; and

(b)

any money remaining in the Project Account, after all payments have been made pursuant to paragraph (a) and all liabilities and obligations of the licensed housing developer under the sale and purchase agreements in respect of the building project have been fully discharged and fulfilled, shall be held by the official receiver, trustee in bankruptcy or liquidator, as the case may be, as money belonging to the licensed housing developer to be applied in accordance with the law relating to bankruptcy or the winding up of company.

(7) The Minister may, if he thinks necessary, appoint the Auditor-General or an approved company auditor under the Companies Act (Cap. 185) to investigate the books, accounts and transactions of a Project Account.

(8) The licensed housing developer shall pay the Minister all the expenses of and incidental to the investigation referred to in subsection (7).

(9) Any account opened by a licensed housing developer at a bank or finance company for the purpose of depositing purchase monies received from purchasers in respect of a building project prior to the commencement of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) (Amendment) Act 1984 shall be deemed to be a Project Account which has been opened pursuant to this section.

(10) This section shall not apply to any building project carried on by —

(a)	a licensed housing developer where all the units in the building project will not be offered for sale and purchase before the completion of the building project;
(b)	a licensed housing developer under any building agreement with the Urban Redevelopment Authority established under the Urban Redevelopment Authority Act, 1973 (Act 65 of 1973); or
(c)	a licensed housing developer who has furnished to the Controller of Housing a banker’s guarantee of an amount equivalent to not less than 140% of the total cost of construction of the building project as certified by the architect in charge of the building project.

(11) Any licensed housing developer who contravenes or fails to comply with subsection (1) or (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.

(12) For the purpose of this section —

“building project” means a housing development comprising units to be used for residential purposes or both residential and commercial purposes and includes, for the purposes of subsections (3) to (11), any phase of such housing development where such housing development has been approved by the competent authority under the Planning Act (Cap. 279) to be developed in phases;

“unit” means a horizontal stratum of any building or part thereof, whether such stratum is on one or more levels, and is intended for use in accordance with the provisions of any written law as a complete and separate unit for residential or commercial purpose.”.

Amendment of section 21

3. Section 21(2) of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the word “and” at the end of paragraph (e); and

(b)

by deleting the full-stop at the end of paragraph (f) and substituting the word “; and”, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraph:

“(g)

the regulation of the Project Account including —

(i)	prescribing monies which shall be paid into a Project Account; and
(ii)	prescribing monies which may be withdrawn from a Project Account and the conditions for such withdrawal.”.

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