Housing Developers(Control and Licensing)Act 1965

Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act 1965 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act for the licensing and control of housing developers. [1 October 1965] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act is the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act 1965. Interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “accounts” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967; “authorised officer” means a public officer or an officer of a public authority authorised by the Controller under section 3(5); “building project” means a building project comprising units of housing accommodation; “certificate of statutory completion” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Building Control Act 1989; “company” means any company incorporated, formed or registered under the provisions of the Companies Act 1967 or any corresponding previous written law; “Controller” means the Controller of Housing appointed under section 3(1); “Deputy Controller” means the Deputy Controller of Housing appointed under section 3(3)(a); “develop” means to construct or cause to construct housing accommodation, including any building operations in, on, over or under the land for the purpose of erecting housing accommodation and the sale by a housing developer of land which would be appurtenant to the housing accommodation; “FATF” means the intergovernmental body known as the Financial Action Task Force; [Act 54 of 2018 wef 28/06/2023] “FATF Recommendations” means the recommendations issued by the FATF from time to time relating to the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing; [Act 54 of 2018 wef 28/06/2023] [Act 15 of 2025 wef 01/07/2025] “housing accommodation” includes a building or tenement wholly or principally constructed, adapted or intended for human habitation or for human habitation and as business premises; “housing developer” means any — (a) person; (b) group of persons, whether in partnership or otherwise; (c) society, whether a cooperative society or otherwise; (d) company; or (e) limited liability partnership, who or which engages in or undertakes housing development, but does not include any — (f) bank which is in possession of a valid licence granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Banking Act 1970; or (g) insurer licensed under section 11 of the Insurance Act 1966, so long as such bank or insurer only lends or provides money for housing development; “housing development” means the business of — (a) developing; (b) providing the money for developing or for the purchase of, more than 4 units of housing accommodation; or (c) developing and providing the money for the purchase of more than 4 units of housing accommodation resulting from such development; “inspector” means an inspector appointed under section 3(3)(b); “licence” means a licence granted under section 4(5); “licensed housing developer” means a housing developer holding a valid licence; “limited liability partnership” and “limited liability partnership agreement” have the meanings given by section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005; “manager”, in relation to a limited liability partnership, has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005; “money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing offence” means an offence under — (a) sections 50 to 57 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992; (b) the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act 2002; (c) any regulations made under the United Nations Act 2001; (d) section 12A(2), 12B(3), 12C(5), 12D(2), 12E(6) or 12F(2) or any rules made under this Act for the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing, or for the reporting of transactions suspected of involving money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing; (e) section 5A(5), 5B(5), 5C(6), 5D(2) or 5E(4) of the Sale of Commercial Properties Act 1979 or any rules made under that Act for the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing, or for the reporting of transactions suspected of involving money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing; (f) any provision of any other written law relating to the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing; or (g) the law of any foreign country or territory relating to the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing; [Act 15 of 2025 wef 01/07/2025] “partner”, in relation to a limited partnership, means a general partner as defined in the Limited Partnerships Act 2008; “proliferation financing” means the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; [Act 15 of 2025 wef 01/07/2025] “public accountant” means any person registered or deemed to be registered under the Accountants Act 2004 as a public accountant; “public authority” means such board, authority or agency established by or under any public Act to perform or discharge any public function as the Minister approves for the purposes of section 3; “purchaser”, in relation to a licensed housing developer, means a person — (a) to whom the licensed housing developer grants an option to purchase from the licensed housing developer a unit of any housing accommodation in a building project undertaken by that licensed housing developer; or (b) who agrees to purchase from the licensed housing developer a unit of any housing accommodation in a building project undertaken by that licensed housing developer, and includes a prospective purchaser; [Act 54 of 2018 wef 28/06/2023] “responsible position”, in relation to a housing developer, means — (a) in the case of a housing developer that is a company — a director, manager or secretary or a person in a position analogous to that of a director, manager or secretary; (b) in the case of a housing developer that is a society — a president, secretary or treasurer or a person in a position analogous to that of a president, secretary or treasurer; (c) in the case of a housing developer that is a partnership — a partner; (d) in the case of a housing developer that is a limited liability partnership — a partner or manager or a person in a position analogous to that of a manager; or (e) in the case of a housing developer that is a group of persons — any person in that group; “show unit” means any representation or reproduction of any house, flat or other housing accommodation, or any part thereof, that is built, or built and furnished, for viewing by prospective purchasers of, or otherwise for the purpose of promoting the sale of, the or any similar house, flat or other housing accommodation; “substantial shareholder”, in relation to a company, has the meaning given by section 81 of the Companies Act 1967; [Act 54 of 2018 wef 28/06/2023] [Act 15 of 2025 wef 01/07/2025] “unit” means a horizontal stratum of any building or part thereof, whether such stratum is on one or more levels, and which is intended for use in accordance with the provisions of any written law as a complete and separate unit for residential or commercial purpose. [26/2001; 17/2005; 37/2008; 11/2013; 15/2013] (2) In this Act, unless it is expressly provided to the contrary, “group of persons” does not include a partnership. [37/2008] Appointment of Controller, inspectors, etc. 3.—(1) The Minister may appoint a public officer or an officer of a public authority to be the Controller of Housing for the purposes of this Act. [15/2013] [Act 5 of 2025 wef 09/03/2025] (1A) An appointment under subsection (1) must be published in the Gazette. [Act 5 of 2025 wef 09/03/2025] (2) The Controller is, subject to any general or special directions of the Minister, responsible for the administration of this Act and must perform any duties imposed and may exercise any powers conferred upon him or her by this Act and any rules made under this Act. [15/2013] (3) The Controller may appoint, by name or office, from among public officers or officers of a public authority — (a) a Deputy Controller of Housing; and (b) any number of inspectors that may be required for the purposes of this Act. [15/2013] (4) The Deputy Controller may, subject to any directions that the Controller may specify, perform all or any of the functions of the Controller or exercise all or any of the powers of the Controller conferred on the Controller by this Act and any rules made under this Act; and any reference in this Act and any rules made under this Act to the Controller includes a reference to the Deputy Controller. [15/2013] (5) The Controller may authorise any public officer or any officer of a public authority to perform all or any of the functions of the Controller or exercise all or any of the powers of the Controller conferred on the Controller by this Act or any rules made under this Act (except the power of delegation conferred by this subsection), subject to any conditions or limitations that are set out in this Act or that the Controller may specify by directions; and any reference in this Act and any rules made under this Act to the Controller includes a reference to such authorised officer. [15/2013] (6) In performing any function or exercising any power delegated under subsection (5), an authorised officer must comply with the Controller’s directions. [15/2013] (7) A delegation under this section does not prevent the exercise of any function or power under this Act or any rules made under this Act by the Controller. [15/2013] (8) The Controller, the Deputy Controller and every authorised officer and inspector — (a) are deemed to be public servants for the purposes of the Penal Code 1871; and (b) in relation to their administration, assessment, collection or enforcement of payment of composition sums, are deemed to be public officers for the purposes of the Financial Procedure Act 1966, and section 20 of that Act applies to such persons even though they are not or were not in the employment of the Government. [15/2013]