Land Titles Bill - Singapore Statutes Online

Land Titles Bill

Bill No. 36/1992

Read the first time on 16th November 1992.

An Act to repeal and re-enact with amendments the Land Titles Act (Chapter 157 of the 1985 Revised Edition) which makes provision for the registration of titles to land and to make consequential amendments to the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act (Chapter 61 of the 1985 Revised Edition), the State Lands Act (Chapter 314 of the 1985 Revised Edition) and the Registration of Deeds Act (Chapter 269 of the 1989 Revised Edition).

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

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Land Titles Act 1992 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Division into Parts

2. This Act is divided into Parts, as follows:

Part I

sections 1–4

Part II

sections 5–7

Part III

Division 1

sections 8–20

Division 2

sections 21–27

Part IV

sections 28–44

Part V

Division 1

sections 45–49

Division 2

section 50

Part VI

sections 51–62

Part VII

sections 63–67

Part VIII

Division 1

sections 68–80

Division 2

sections 81–85

Part IX

sections 86–93

Part X

sections 94–106

Part XI

sections 107–114

Part XII

sections 115–130

Part XIII

sections 131–137

Part XIV

sections 138–141

Part XV

sections 142–145

Part XVI

sections 146–150

Part XVII

sections 151–160

Part XVIII

sections 161–164

Part XIX

sections 165–176.

Reconciliation with existing laws

3.—(1) Except as hereinafter provided, all Acts, regulations, rules, and other laws, and all practices, relating to estates and interests in land and operative at the commencement of this Act, so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act in their application to registered land, are repealed.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall affect the right of the Collector of Land Revenue, or of any other person or authority empowered by any written law, to enter on registered land pursuant to such a power.

(3) Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, the Registration of Deeds Act [Cap. 269] shall not apply to registered land.

(4) This Act shall bind the Government.

Interpretation

4.—(1) In the interpretation of this Act and any rules made thereunder, unless the context otherwise requires —

“approved form” means any form approved by the Registrar for the purposes of any of the provisions of this Act;

“assurance”, in relation to unregistered land, has the same meaning as in the Registration of Deeds Act;

“assurance fund” means the assurance fund constituted under section 151;

“caveatee” means the proprietor or other owner of land described in a caveat and to whom notice of the caveat is required to be given;

“caveator” means the person by whom or on whose behalf a caveat has been lodged;

“certificate of title”, in relation to —

(a)	a manual folio includes a duplicate certificate of title issued by the Registrar before or after the commencement of this Act;
(b)	a computer folio includes a print-out of that folio certified by the Registrar as a true copy or a statement issued and certified by the Registrar regarding the proprietorship of any land brought under the provisions of this Act and the encumbrances thereon;

“Collector” means the Collector of Land Revenue;

“computer folio” means a folio that is not a manual folio;

“dealing” means any instrument other than a certificate of title or caveat which is registrable or capable of being made registrable under the provisions of this Act or in respect of which any entry or notification in the land-register is by this Act required or permitted to be made;

“executor” means the executor to whom probate has been granted, and includes an executor by right of representation;

“folio” means a folio of the land-register, whether qualified or unqualified as to title;

“interest”, in relation to land, means any interest in land recognised as such at law, and includes an estate in land;

“instrument” includes a transfer, lease, mortgage, transmission application, charge and any other application, or any other document in writing relating to any disposition, devolution or acquisition of land or any claim to or vesting of interest in land;

“land” means —

(a)	the surface of any defined parcel of the earth, all substances thereunder and so much of the column of airspace above the surface whether or not held apart from the surface as is reasonably necessary for the proprietor’s use and enjoyment, and includes any estate or interest therein and all vegetation growing thereon and structures affixed thereto; or
(b)	any parcel of airspace or any subterranean space held apart from the surface of the earth and described with certainty by reference to a plan approved by the Chief Surveyor and filed in the Survey Department, and includes any estate or interest therein and all vegetation growing thereon and structures affixed thereto,

and where the context so permits, the proprietorship of land includes natural rights to air, light, water and support and the right of access to any highway on which the land abuts;

“land-register” means the land-register that is maintained pursuant to section 28;

“manual folio” means a folio maintained by the Registrar wholly in the form of a document in writing;

“proprietor” means any person who appears from the land-register to be the person entitled to an estate or interest in any land which has been brought under the provisions of this Act, and includes a mortgagee, chargee and lessee;

“purchaser” means a person who, in good faith and for valuable consideration, acquires an estate or interest in land, and includes a mortgagee, chargee and lessee; and “purchase” shall have a meaning corresponding;

“qualified folio” means a folio qualified as to title;

“registered land” means land which has been brought under the provisions of this Act by being included in a folio;

“Registrar” means the Registrar of Titles appointed pursuant to this Act;

“Registrar of Deeds” means the Registrar of Deeds appointed under the Registration of Deeds Act [Cap. 269];

“Registry” means the Land Titles Registry;

“subdivided building” has the same meaning as in the Land Titles (Strata) Act [Cap. 158];

“unregistered land” means any land which has not yet been brought under the provisions of this Act.

(2) A reference in this Act to a State grant or lease shall include a reference to a Crown grant or lease issued at any time prior to 16th September 1963.

(3) A reference to land alienated by the State shall include a reference to land alienated by the Crown at any time prior to 16th September 1963.

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