Housing and Development (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 32/1979

Read the first time on 7th September 1979.

An Act to amend the Housing and Development Act (Chapter 271 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 and Development (Amendment) Act, 1979, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 2

2. Subsection (1) of section 2 of the Housing and Development Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the principal Act) is amended by inserting, immediately after the definition of “Collector” therein, the following definition —

“ “commercial property” means any flat, house or building or any part thereof which is permitted to be used pursuant to the Planning Act (Cap. 279) or any other written law for the purpose of carrying on any business or which is lawfully so used;”.

Amendment of section 41

3. Section 41 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (b) of subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(b)

has, at any time within thirty months immediately prior to the date of making an application to the Board to purchase the same, or between the date of such application and the date of completion of the purchase of the flat, house or other living accommodation, sold any flat, house, building or land of which he was the owner, or divested himself of any interest therein.”; and

(b)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (7) thereof, the following subsection: —

“(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Board may sell or lease a flat, house or other living accommodation to any person, notwithstanding that such person, his spouse or any authorised occupier has purchased or acquired, with the prior written consent of the Board, any commercial property not exceeding in value two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or such higher value as the Minister may allow, and the said commercial property is used or intended to be used by any such person for business purposes.”.

Amendment of section 48A

4. Section 48A of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (c) of subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(c)	if the flat, house or other living accommodation has in the opinion of the Board been used otherwise than for the purpose permitted by the lease; or”; and

(b)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (1) thereof, the following subsection: —

“(1A) Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section 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 two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or such higher value as the Minister may allow, and the said commercial property is used or intended to be used by any such person for business purposes.”.

Amendment of section 48B

5. Subsection (1) of section 48B of the principal Act is amended by deleting sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph (a) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(i)	in the case where no objection has been made pursuant to subsection (3) of section 48A of this Act, on the expiry of a period of twenty-eight days after the date of service of the notice referred to in subsection (2) of section 48A of this Act; and”.

New section 48G

6. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 48F thereof, the following section: —

“Direction of Minister to be conclusive evidence

48G. If any dispute arises or should a ruling be required as to whether any property is a commercial property within the meaning of this Act, a direction by the Minister to the effect that such property is, or is not, a commercial property shall be conclusive evidence for all purposes; every such direction shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court or tribunal.”.

Amendment of section 49

7. Subsection (1) of section 49 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

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

(b)

by deleting the full-stop at the end of paragraph (g) thereof and substituting therefor the word “; and”; and

(c)

by inserting, immediately after paragraph (g) thereof, the following paragraph: —

“(h)

prescribing the fees (such fees, if unpaid, to constitute a debt due to the Board and be recoverable as such) to be paid by the owner of any flat, house or other living accommodation sold under the provisions of this Part or by any applicant for such flat, house or other living accommodation for non‑observance or non‑compliance with any of the restrictions, conditions or requirements of section 41, 48 or 48A of this Act, where the Board does not proceed against him under any of the said sections.”.

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