With changes to the Residential Property Act (RPA) in January, Law Minister K Shanmugam expects the number of approved foreigner's purchase of landed property here to be cut by more than half.
Speaking to reporters after visiting a black and white bungalow, Mr Shanmugam said approvals are given to applicants who are making a "very significant economic contribution" or if the family is rooted in Singapore with children doing national service.
"After the further tightening up, I suspect we are looking at very few people who would qualify. I think probably less than half of those who had previously qualified under the earlier strict criteria would qualify now. I'd be surprised if approvals are more than 50 per year," he said.
Only foreigners who are Permanent Residents can purchase landed residential properties here and those who wish to purchase such properties must seek the approval of the Law Minister. Each approval is allowed one property purchase.
Mr Shanmugam said the Government has kept foreign ownership of landed property to under 5 per cent and has maintained it at 3.5 per cent currently.
The Government has imposed stringent conditions on approved PR purchasers of landed properties because landed property should primarily be owned by Singaporeans and "the exceptions will be very rare", Mr Shanmugam added.
The Law Minister was on a site visit to a black and white bungalow at 10AB Goodwood Hill, which was organised by the Singapore Land Authority.
The tenancy bid for the bungalow, which has a land area of 7,869 sq m, will close tomorrow.
Enhanced penalties under the RPA came into effect in January this year. For example, a PR owner who rents out his landed residential property without approval now faces a financial penalty of up to three times the rental income earned over the period of breach, or S$10,000, whichever is higher.
A PR owner who disposes of a restricted property without approval during the non-disposal period now faces a maximum fine of S$200,000.
The previous penalty for both offences was a maximum fine of S$5,000 and/or a three-year jail term on conviction.
Source: Today Online by Ong Dai Lin , Oct 13, 2011
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