56.—(1) The Board may compulsorily acquire any flat, house or other living accommodation sold subject to the provisions of this Part, whether before or after 2nd June 1975 —| (a) | if the owner thereof and his spouse, if any, has, in the opinion of the Board, ceased to occupy the same; | | (b) | if the owner thereof, his spouse or any authorised occupier has at any time, whether before or after 2nd June 1975, acquired whether by operation of law or otherwise any title to or an estate or interest in any other flat, house or building or land; | | (c) | if the flat, house or other living accommodation has, without the prior written approval of the Board, been used otherwise than for the purpose permitted by the lease; | | (d) | if the owner thereof has permitted any person other than an authorised occupier to reside or stay in the flat, house or other living accommodation; | | (e) | if the owner thereof has failed to perform or observe any condition contained in the lease to be performed or observed on the part of the owner after a notice in writing has been sent by the Board drawing his attention to the non-performance or non-observance of the condition in the lease; | | (f) | if the owner thereof has made a misleading or false statement in his application to the Board for the purchase of the same; | | (g) | if the owner thereof has made a misrepresentation of a material fact, whether innocently or otherwise, to the Board relating to the purchase of the flat, house or other living accommodation; | | (ga) | if the owner or any owner thereof made a misleading or false statement in his application to the Board for, or a misrepresentation of a material fact (whether innocently or otherwise) to the Board relating to —| (i) | his acquisition of the flat, house or other living accommodation or an interest in it from a related person; or | | (ii) | his transfer of an interest in the flat, house or other living accommodation to a related person; [Act 35 of 2020 wef 01/08/2021] |
| | (h) | if the owner thereof assigns, underlets or parts with the possession of the same or any part thereof without obtaining the prior written consent of the Board as required by the lease; | | (i) | if, in the opinion of the Board, the flat, house or other living accommodation is not being occupied by such minimum number of persons or by such persons as the Board may require; | | (j) | if the owner thereof has at any time, whether before or after 2nd June 1975, ceased to be a citizen of Singapore or if the owner thereof has, at any time whether before or after 1st May 1982, ceased to be a permanent resident of Singapore; | | (k) | if the rent or any payment or any part thereof due to the Board reserved under the lease or mortgage remains unpaid for 3 calendar months after it is due and payable and the Board has sent a notice of demand in writing to the owner thereof; | | (l) | if the purchase price or any loan for the purchase of the flat, house or other living accommodation has been paid in full or partially with any cash grant made by the Government to the owner and paid into the owner’s account with the Central Provident Fund pursuant to section 14 of the Central Provident Fund Act (Cap. 36) and the owner refuses or fails to return the money to the Government when he is required to do so under the terms of the grant; | | (m) | if the owner thereof, his spouse or any authorised occupier above the age of 14 years has on or after 1st March 1984 been convicted of an offence under section 304A, 336, 337 or 338 of the Penal Code (Cap. 224) in connection with the throwing of any matter or thing from any property belonging to, sold by or leased from, the Board; or | | (n) | if the owner thereof, his spouse or any authorised occupier has been convicted of an offence under any written law relating to immigration for giving food or shelter to any person who has entered, remained or stayed in Singapore in contravention of any written law relating to immigration or for assisting such person in any way to evade apprehension. [13/75; 25/79; 12/82; 21/86; 31/2002] |
| (2) Subsection (1)(b) shall not apply to any owner or his spouse or any authorised occupier who has purchased or acquired, with the prior written consent of the Board, any commercial property not exceeding in value $250,000 or such higher value as the Minister may allow, and that commercial property is used or intended to be used by any such person for business purposes. [25/79] |
| (3) Where the Board intends to exercise its powers of compulsory acquisition conferred by this section, the Board shall serve a notice in writing on the owner of the flat, house or other living accommodation and all persons known or believed to be interested in claiming all or any part of the compensation to be paid for the flat, house or other living accommodation (referred to in this Part as an interested person) stating the intention of the Board to acquire the premises and the compensation to be paid therefor. [13/75] |
(3A) Where the owner or interested person is deceased —| (a) | any reference to the owner or interested person in subsections (3) to (6) includes a reference to any legal personal representative of the deceased; | | (b) | if no legal personal representative is appointed in respect of the deceased owner, any notice required to be served by the Board on the deceased owner under this section may be served by affixing a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place at the flat, house or other living accommodation; and | | (c) | if no legal personal representative is appointed in respect of the deceased interested person, any notice required to be served by the Board on the interested person under this section may be served by affixing a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place at the last known place of residence of the interested person immediately before the interested person’s death. [Act 13 of 2015 wef 20/07/2015] |
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| (4) Any owner or interested person who objects to a proposed acquisition by the Board may, within 28 days after the service of a notice referred to in subsection (3), submit in writing to the Board precisely the grounds upon which he objects to the acquisition and the compensation offered by the Board. [13/75] |
| (5) The Board shall consider the objection and may either disallow it or allow it either wholly or in part, and shall serve the owner or interested person by post or otherwise with a written notice of its decision. [13/75] |
| (6) Any appeal by any owner or interested person aggrieved by the decision of the Board shall be made to the Minister within 28 days after the date of service of such decision on the owner or interested person and the decision of the Minister shall be final and not open to review or challenge on any ground whatsoever. [21/86] |
| (7) This section shall not limit or affect the powers conferred upon the Board by any other provision of this Act or under any other written law to exercise its right of forfeiture and right of re-entry for a breach of the conditions of a lease. [13/75] |
| (8) The compensation to be paid by the Board for any flat, house or other living accommodation compulsorily acquired by the Board under this section shall be determined by the Board. [13/75] |
| (9) The Minister may direct the Board to exempt any person or class of persons from all or any of the provisions of this section. [12/82] |
| (10) For the purposes of subsection (1)(ga), a person (A) is related to an owner of a flat, house or other living accommodation (B) if A is the spouse, a parent, remoter lineal ancestor, step-parent, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, remoter issue, stepson, stepdaughter, brother or sister, or the spouse of a brother or sister, of B. [Act 35 of 2020 wef 01/08/2021] |
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