Land Titles (Strata) (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 13/1982

Read the first time on 27th July 1982.
An Act to amend the Land Titles (Strata) Act (Chapter 277 of the Revised Edition) and to make consequential amendments to the Land Titles Act (Chapter 276 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 Land Titles (Strata) (Amendment) Act, 1982, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.
Amendment of section 3
2.  Section 3 of the Land Titles (Strata) Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended —
(a)by deleting the definition of “provisional share value”;
(b)by deleting the words “and the Registrar” at the end of the definition of “strata units”; and
(c)by deleting the word “and” at the end of paragraph (a) of the definition of “subsidiary proprietor” and substituting the word “or”.
Amendment of section 7
3.  Section 7 of the principal Act is amended —
(a)by deleting the words “and the Registrar” in the sixth line of subsection (1);
(b)by deleting paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and substituting the following paragraph: —
(a)within sixty days of the date of issue of the approved building plan for development of the land by the relevant authority, four copies of a schedule of strata units showing the estimated share value to be allotted to each proposed strata unit; and”;
(c)by deleting the words “a copy” in the fourth line of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and substituting the words “four copies”;
(d)by deleting the word “thirty” in the seventh line of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and substituting the word “sixty”;
(e)by deleting the words “and the Registrar” in the fourth and in the eleventh lines of subsection (3); and
(f)by inserting, immediately after the word “variation” in the ninth line of subsection (3), the words “and approved by the Commissioner,”.
New section 7A
4.  The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 7, the following section: —
Notification of planning condition on land-register, etc.
7A.—(1)  Where planning permission has been granted by the competent authority for the development of any land subject to the condition that thirty per cent of the floor area of any building in the development must be owned by a single person for a period of ten years from the date of the latest temporary occupation licence issued before the grant of the certificate of fitness in respect of the development, the competent authority shall notify the Registrar of such planning permission and file with the Registrar the plans delineating the specified flats in any building comprising the aforesaid thirty per cent of the floor area.
(2)  Where the Registrar has received the notice and plans referred to in subsection (1) and the Registrar is satisfied that the plans adequately identify the flats comprised in the said thirty per cent of the floor area of the development, the Registrar shall —
(a)enter the appropriate notification on the relevant folio of the land-register or subsidiary strata land-register; and
(b)have the power to refuse to register any instrument disposing of any interest in any flat in contravention of the condition referred to in subsection (1) when the instrument is presented for registration.
(3)  Where the Registrar has discovered that any instrument has been lodged for registration or has been finally registered in contravention of the condition referred to in subsection (1), the Registrar shall serve a notice in writing on the person who appears in the records of the Registrar as the party claiming under the said instrument of the Registrar’s intention to cancel the registration of the instrument and any instrument relating to the flats referred to in subsection (1) and any relating entries in the records maintained by the Registrar. On the expiration of the Registrar’s notice, the Registrar shall without giving any further notice cancel the registration of the said instruments and all entries relating thereto.
(4)  The registered proprietor may lodge an application with the Registrar in the approved form for the cancellation of any notification made by the Registrar in the land-register or subsidiary strata land-register pursuant to this section and the Registrar shall cancel the notification if he is satisfied that the condition referred to in subsection (1) has been fulfilled.”.
Amendment of section 9
5.  Section 9 of the principal Act is amended —
(a)by deleting subsection (3) and substituting the following subsection: —
(3)  Each storey plan shall —
(a)delineate, subject to subsections (5) and (6), one or more proposed lots and define the boundaries thereof by reference to floors and walls;
(b)show the number of every storey and every lot included in the plan;
(c)show the approximate floor area of each lot including any accessory lot and the total floor area of a lot which comprises separate parts as well as the lot number and floor number;
(d)delineate the external boundaries of each building or parts thereof proposed to be erected within the parcel as a separate tenement or an extension of any completed subdivided building or buildings in accordance with building plans (if any) and subdivision plans approved by the relevant authority; and
(e)be drawn to scale.”;
(b)by deleting the words “dimensions and” in the third line of subsection (5);
(c)by deleting paragraph (a) of subsection (7) and substituting the following paragraph: —
(a)show the share values in whole numbers of each lot including a provisional lot and a number equal to the aggregate share value entitlement of all the lots including provisional lots;”; and
(d)by inserting, immediately after subsection (9), the following subsection: —
(10)  No share value shall be allotted to an accessory lot.”.
Amendment of section 10
6.  Section 10 of the principal Act is amended —
(a)by deleting the words “in relation to the number of the storey” at the end of paragraph (b) of subsection (2); and
(b)by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsection: —
(2A)  On registration of the strata title plan for redevelopment, parts of any lot which are capable of forming the common property as provided under this Act shall form part of the common property in relation to all the lots comprised within the same parcel as described in the strata title plan first registered with the Registrar without the need for a resolution made pursuant to section 22 directing the management corporation concerned to accept a transfer of such parts of a lot to form part of the common property.”.
Amendment of section 22
7.  Section 22 of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (4) and substituting the following subsection: —
(4)  Upon registration of the transfer by the Registrar —
(a)the transferred land or the transferred lot, as the case may be, shall form part of the common property and the provisions of the Act applicable to common property as varied by this section shall apply to such transferred land or lot;
(b)the subsidiary proprietors shall hold the common property (including the transferred land or lot) as tenants in common in accordance with their respective share units as determined pursuant to subsection (3); and
(c)without any further assurance the subsidiary proprietors shall hold the common property in the following manner: —
(i)where the tenure of the transferred land is similar to that of the common property held by the subsidiary proprietors prior to the date of the registration of the transfer of such land, the subsidiary proprietors shall hold the common property (including the transferred land) for the same term and tenure as tenants in common in the manner as provided in paragraph (b);
(ii)where the tenure of the transferred land is not similar to that of the common property held by the subsidiary proprietors prior to the date of the registration of the transfer of such land, the subsidiary proprietors shall hold the entire term and tenure transferred to and accepted by the management corporation on behalf of the subsidiary proprietors as tenants in common in the manner as provided in paragraph (b);
(iii)where a lot is transferred, the term and tenure of that lot which comprises the additional common property shall be held for the same term and tenure as that of the lots held by the subsidiary proprietors prior to the date of registration of the said transfer; and
(iv)if there is a subsisting registered mortgage, charge, lease or sub-lease or any other encumbrance on the lot of a subsidiary proprietor, the undivided share or shares in the transferred land or transferred lot forming the additional common property shall be held by the subsidiary proprietor of the said lot subject to the same mortgage, charge, lease or sub-lease or any other such subsisting encumbrance.”.
Amendment of section 24
8.  Section 24 of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (3) and substituting the following subsection: —
(3)  Every instrument of such transfer or acceptance of a transfer lodged for registration shall be accompanied by a certified true copy of the order of court directing such transfer or acceptance of a transfer and where the approval of the competent authority is required for any subdivision and amalgamation of any land or common property, a true copy of the approval given by the competent authority shall be lodged with such instrument.”.
Amendment of section 27
9.  Section 27 of the principal Act is amended —
(a)by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection: —
(1)  The share value of each lot including a provisional lot shown in every plan lodged for registration as a strata title plan shall be taken as share units, and in the case of any strata title plan where planning permission has been granted on or after the 15th day of April 1976, each lot including a provisional lot shall have the share value shown in the schedule of strata units approved by the Commissioner pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 7 prior to the registration of the strata title plan by the Registrar.”; and
(b)by deleting subsections (3) to (8).
New section 27A
10.  The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 27, the following section: —
Provisional lots
27A.—(1)  No assurance of any provisional lot for which a subsidiary strata certificate of title is issued shall be registered under this Act and the Registrar shall enter an appropriate caution on the relevant subsidiary strata certificate of title prohibiting any assurance of the provisional lot comprised therein from being registered.
(2)  Where an assurance of any provisional lot has been registered, such registration shall not pass any title or interest in the said provisional lot, and the Registrar shall, on discovery of the registration, cancel the registration, and no person affected by such cancellation shall be entitled to any compensation from the assurance fund.
(3)  The subsidiary proprietor of a provisional lot shall be required to lodge the relevant duplicate subsidiary strata certificate of title and an application with the Registrar for the cancellation of the Registrar’s caution referred to in subsection (1) immediately after the relevant authority has certified to the effect that all buildings within the provisional lot have been completed to the satisfaction of the relevant authority.
(4)  The Registrar, after receipt of the application lodged for cancellation of the Registrar’s caution referred to in subsection (1) and being satisfied that all buildings within the provisional lot have been completed to the satisfaction of the relevant authority, shall cancel the caution endorsed on the subsidiary strata certificate of title and make the appropriate deletion of the word “provisional” wherever it appears as relating to that provisional lot in the records maintained by the Registrar, and thereupon that provisional lot shall constitute a lot under this Act.
(5)  Where the word “provisional” has been deleted by the Registrar pursuant to subsection (4), any part of the lot which is capable of forming part of the common property comprised within the same parcel as shown in the strata title plan which was first registered with the Registrar shall form part of the common property in relation to all the lots comprised within the same parcel as described in the strata title plan registered with the Registrar without the need for a resolution made pursuant to section 22 directing the management corporation concerned to accept a transfer of such part of the lot to form part of the common property.
(6)  Except as provided in subsections (1), (2) and (3), the provisions of this Act relating to a lot shall apply in all respects to a provisional lot.”.
Repeal and re-enactment of section 46
11.  Section 46 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor: —
Special provisions for disposal of flats by the Housing and Development Board
46.—(1)  The restriction imposed by subsection (1) of section 6 on an assurance disposing of any part of a subdivided building shall not apply to any assurance disposing of any interest in any flat in a subdivided building erected on registered land where the interest in the flat is held under a lease from the Board.
(2)  Where a strata title plan and an application for the issue of subsidiary strata certificates of title are lodged by the Board with and duly registered by the Registrar, the provisions of this Act relating to a strata title plan and a subsidiary proprietor and Part IV of this Act shall apply to each and every subdivided building comprised in the registered strata title plan.
(3)  In this section “Board” means the Housing and Development Board incorporated under the Housing and Development Act (Cap. 271).”.
Amendment of section 47
12.  Section 47 of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection: —
(1)  The restriction imposed by subsection (1) of section 6 on an assurance disposing of any part of a subdivided building shall not apply to any assurance disposing of any interest in any flat in any subdivided building erected on registered land where the interest in the flat is held under a lease from the Jurong Town Corporation.”.
Consequential amendment to the Land Titles Act
13.  The Land Titles Act (Cap. 276) is amended by inserting, immediately after section 20, the following section: —
Single certificate of title for land forming the common property of a subdivided building
20A.  Where two or more parcels of registered lands are intended to form the common property of one or more subdivided buildings, the Registrar may, notwithstanding the provisions of sections 8, 8A, 8B, 10, 12, 13 and 14, on the application made to him by the proprietor of those adjoining parcels of land, issue a single certificate of title, qualified or unqualified, as the case may be, for those parcels of land even though they may be of different tenure.”.