7. Sections 19 to 24 of the principal Act are repealed and the following sections substituted therefor:“Division 2 — Applications and schemes to bring land under this Act |
Bringing lands under this Act |
19.—(1) Unregistered land of whatever tenure may be brought under the provisions of this Act upon any primary application or at the instance of the Registrar in accordance with this Division.(2) The Registrar may bring unregistered land under the provisions of this Act by the creation of one or more folios for the land which shall be either qualified or unqualified as to title, and shall notify on the folio, in such manner as to preserve their priority, such particulars as he thinks fit of all subsisting mortgages or other encumbrances to which the land is subject at the time of bringing the land under the provisions of this Act. |
(3) Any folio, qualified or unqualified as to title, created under this Division for any land may, if the circumstances so require, be qualified as to the boundaries and dimensions of the land, and section 165 shall apply with such modifications as are necessary to that land. |
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20.—(1) A person entitled to bring unregistered land under the provisions of this Act may lodge a primary application with the Registrar to bring the land under this Act together with any deed, conveyance or instrument affecting the land.(2) The following persons shall be entitled to have unregistered land brought under the provisions of this Act:(a) | the person claiming to be the owner (either at law or in equity) or persons who collectively claim to be the owners (either at law or in equity) of the fee simple, an estate in perpetuity or leasehold estate; or | (b) | trustees for the sale of the fee simple, an estate in perpetuity or leasehold estate where the application to bring the land under the provisions of this Act has been consented to by a majority in number of persons required to give that consent. |
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(3) A primary application to bring land under the provisions of this Act shall be in the approved form and shall be accompanied by such documents of title or other evidence as the Registrar may require, including but not limited to a statutory declaration (in a form acceptable to the Registrar) executed by an applicant who is unable to produce any such documents of title or other evidence to substantiate his claim or from any person connected with the loss of those documents. |
(4) Notwithstanding subsection (2), a mortgagor is not entitled to apply to bring land under the provisions of this Act unless the mortgagee consents to the primary application. |
(5) Unless expressly prohibited by the terms of its memorandum of association, constitution, charter or other constituting document, a corporation (whether sole or aggregate) shall be deemed to have power to apply to the Registrar to bring land under the provisions of this Act, and any such primary application may be made on its behalf by its managing director, manager, secretary or by an attorney appointed in that behalf by the corporation under its common seal. |
(6) The Registrar may refer any primary application to any legally qualified person for investigation of and report on the applicant’s title. |
(7) On the creation of a folio for the land, the Registrar shall cancel —(a) | all assurances lodged to support the primary application if the folio is unqualified as to title; or | (b) | in any other case, the last deed lodged with the Registry of Deeds prior to the creation of the folio. |
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Unregistered land may be brought under this Act at instance of Registrar or on registration of conveyance |
21.—(1) The Registrar may, if he thinks fit, bring under the provisions of this Act any unregistered land comprised in any conveyance registered under the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 269).(2) If the Registrar intends to bring any unregistered land under the provisions of this Act in accordance with subsection (1), the Registrar shall —(a) | give notice of his intention to do so to the owner of the land (as shown from the records in the Registry of Deeds); and | (b) | require the owner to produce for cancellation, within the time specified in the notice, his documents of title or any other evidence substantiating his ownership of the land. |
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(3) Where the owner of the land fails, neglects or refuses to comply with the notice under subsection (2), the Registrar shall insert a notice in one or more local daily newspapers circulating in Singapore stating the Registrar’s intention to bring the unregistered land under the provisions of this Act, including particulars of the owner of the land as shown from the records in the Registry of Deeds or such other particulars as the Registrar may in his discretion deem appropriate. |
(4) After the Registrar has given notice under subsection (2) or (3), as the case may be, he shall bring the land specified in the notice under the provisions of this Act by creating one or more folios for that land. |
(5) Where a person entitled to the unregistered land does not or is unable to produce the documents of title or any other evidence substantiating his claim, the Registrar may, in his discretion, issue a certificate of title to that person if a statutory declaration (in a form acceptable to the Registrar) has been executed by that person or his successor-in-title or his mortgagee and produced to the Registrar for his inspection and, if the Registrar so requires, retention. |
(6) On registering a conveyance in accordance with section 7(2) of the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 269), the Registrar of Deeds shall forward the conveyance to the Registrar who may, if he thinks fit, bring the land comprised in the conveyance under the provisions of this Act. |
(7) The Registrar shall cancel the last deed pertaining to any land brought under the provisions of this Act in accordance with this section. |
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Land may be brought under this Act upon subdivision |
22.—(1) Where permission has been granted to develop or subdivide any unregistered land, the owner shall not be entitled to deal with the land or any part thereof.(2) The Registrar of Deeds may refuse to register any assurance of the land or part thereof under the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 269) unless —(a) | the entire parcel of land is brought under the provisions of this Act in accordance with Division 1 or 2; or | (b) | the Registrar issues to the owner a certificate exempting the land from this section. |
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(3) Subject to subsection (4), subsection (2) shall not apply to unregistered land where permission for the subdivision of any building erected thereon was previously granted and an assurance of part of that subdivided building was registered under the Registration of Deeds Act before 15th May 1968. |
(4) Where the whole of the estate in an unregistered land referred to in subsection (3) comprising the subdivided building has wholly become vested or subsequently vests in the same proprietor at any time on or after 15th May 1968, subsection (2) shall apply to that unregistered land. |
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In whose name title to issue |
23.—(1) A folio created under this Division shall be in the name of —(a) | the person who in accordance with the documents lodged is entitled to be registered as the proprietor of the fee simple, estate in perpetuity or leasehold estate of the land; or | (b) | the person who in accordance with the documents lodged is entitled to be registered as the proprietor of the equity of redemption if conversion is based on the delivery of a document which is a conveyance of the land by way of mortgage. |
(2) If before a folio is created, the person who is entitled to be recorded as the registered proprietor on the folio dies, the folio may be created recording the deceased person as the registered proprietor as if the folio was created before the person died. |
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24.—(1) Where land has been brought under the provisions of this Act by the creation of a folio (whether qualified or unqualified as to title), any subsisting mortgage registered under the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 269) in respect of land comprised in the folio shall, when notified on the folio, be deemed to be a mortgage registered under the provisions of this Act and the provisions of this Act applicable to registered mortgages shall apply to that mortgage.(2) Any second or subsequent conveyance by mortgage of the land in any such folio shall be deemed to be a second or subsequent mortgage registered under the provisions of this Act. |
(3) Where a folio has been created under this Division for any land —(a) | subject to paragraph (b), the Registration of Deeds Act shall cease to apply to the land; | (b) | the Registration of Deeds Act shall continue to apply to any document relating to any trust, probate and letters of administration and any settlement created under any instrument for that land which was subsisting immediately before the date on which the folio was created, not being a document purporting to convey, mortgage or discharge any estate or interest in the land comprised in the folio. |
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(4) Every folio created for any leasehold estate in land shall be subject to the rights and powers of the lessor or other proprietor of the reversion immediately expectant on the term. |
(5) Where the Registrar is unable to determine when the term of any leasehold estate in any unregistered land commences, he shall, for the purposes of bringing the land under the provisions of this Act, be entitled to assume that the term of the lease commences on the date of the lease. |
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Leases of flats erected on unregistered land |
24A.—(1) Where there is a subsisting lease for a flat in a building erected on unregistered land and the lease for such a flat has been registered under the Registration of Deeds Act, the Registrar may issue a subsidiary certificate of title to the owner (as it appears from the records kept by the Registry of Deeds) of the flat without requiring the owner to produce the lease or any other documents of title in his possession for cancellation.(2) If the Registrar intends to issue a subsidiary certificate of title in accordance with subsection (1), the Registrar shall —(a) | insert a notice in one or more local daily newspapers circulating in Singapore stating the Registrar’s intention to issue the subsidiary certificate of title to the owner of the flat after the expiry of 21 days from the date of publication of the notice; and | (b) | send by registered post, a notice to the owner informing him of the Registrar’s decision to issue a subsidiary certificate of title for the flat. |
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(3) A subsidiary certificate of title issued under this section shall, where applicable, be endorsed with a notice —(a) | stating that the area and plan reference of the flat are not stated as no survey has been carried out and approved by the Chief Surveyor; and | (b) | stating the owner’s share in the land on which the flat stands or the owner’s share in the land appurtenant to the flat which forms part of the development. |
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(4) Where the Registrar determines from the records in the Registry of Deeds that it was intended that the owner of the flat should —(a) | own a share in the land on which the flat stands; or | (b) | own a share in the land appurtenant to the flat which forms part of the development, |
the Registrar may, notwithstanding any earlier failure or omission to transfer the relevant share in land to the owner of the flat, endorse on the subsidiary certificate of title — |
(i) | the share in land owned by the owner; or | (ii) | a share in land appurtenant to the flat, |
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(5) A share in the land appurtenant to a flat comprised in a subsidiary certificate of title shall not be disposed of except as appurtenant to the flat and any transfer of that flat operates to transfer the share in the land. |
(6) Where the owner of the land has granted leases for some but not all of the flats in the building, he shall be deemed to be a proprietor of the flats which are still owned by him. |
(7) Where the owners of the flats are also the owners of the land on which the flats stand or which form part of the development, the Registrar shall not, except upon request, produce the certificate of title. |
(8) For the purposes of this section —(a) | it shall be deemed that the planning approval for subdivision of the building had been granted by the relevant authority; | (b) | in the event of a conflict between this section and the provisions of the Land Titles (Strata) Act (Cap. 158), this section shall prevail; and | (c) | “flats” shall have the meaning ascribed to it in section 3 of the Land Titles (Strata) Act. |
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(9) This section shall also apply with the necessary modifications where —(a) | subsisting leases for flats are registered under the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 269) and the flats are in a building erected on registered land; and | (b) | the land is vested in the owners of the flats as tenants in common in their respective shares reflected in the land-register. |
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“Qualified titles and caveats”. |
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