Lease Agreements for Retail Premises Act 2023

REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE ACTS SUPPLEMENT Published by Authority NO. 32] Friday, September 8 [2023 The following Act was passed by Parliament on 3 August 2023 and assented to by the President on 21 August 2023:— Lease Agreements for Retail Premises Act 2023 (No. 28 of 2023) I assent. HALIMAH YACOB, President. 21 August 2023. Date of Commencement: 1 February 2024 An Act to establish the Fair Tenancy Industry Committee, the terms on which retail premises may be leased, the resolution of disputes concerning those terms, and for other matters connected therewith. Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title and commencement 1. This Act is the Lease Agreements for Retail Premises Act 2023 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette. General interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act — “adjudicator” means an adjudicator on the panel of adjudicators; “applicant”, in relation to a complaint of non‑compliance, means the party that files the complaint with an authorised dispute resolution body; “authorised dispute resolution body” means an authorised dispute resolution body authorised by the Minister under section 10(1); “Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the Committee appointed under section 3(1); “Code of Conduct” means the Code of Conduct for Leasing of Retail Premises in Singapore described in section 5(1); “Committee” means the Fair Tenancy Industry Committee established under section 3; “complaint of non-compliance” means a complaint of non‑compliance with a leasing principle described in section 9(1); “declaration of permitted deviation”, in relation to a lease agreement, means a joint declaration by the landlord and tenant of the qualifying lease to which the lease agreement relates, that the landlord and tenant have agreed on a permitted deviation in relation to that lease agreement; “disclosure”, in relation to any document or information, includes permitting access to the document or information; “landlord” means the person who grants or proposes to grant the right to occupy any retail premises under a lease; “law enforcement agency” means any authority or person charged with the duty of investigating offences or charging offenders under any written law; “lease” includes a licence, a sub-lease and a sub‑licence; “lease agreement” means the agreement between a landlord and a tenant for a qualifying lease; “leasing principles” means the leasing principles referred to as such in the Code of Conduct, providing for requirements and best practices for landlords and tenants in relation to qualifying leases; “mediator” means a mediator on the panel of mediators; “member” means a member of the Committee; “panel of adjudicators” means the panel of adjudicators maintained by an authorised dispute resolution body under section 10(2)(b); “panel of mediators” means the panel of mediators maintained by an authorised dispute resolution body under section 10(2)(a); “parties”, in relation to a complaint of non‑compliance, means the applicant and the respondent, and “party” means any one of those persons; “public authority” means — (a) any ministry, department or Organ of State of the Government, or a public officer of any ministry, department or Organ of State of the Government; or (b) a public authority established under any public Act for a public purpose or an officer or an employee of the public authority; “qualifying lease” means a lease for retail premises, or an extension or a renewal of such lease, where — (a) the agreement for the lease, extension or renewal (as the case may be) is signed on or after the date of commencement of Part 3; and (b) the period of the lease or the period of the extension or renewal (as the case may be) is or exceeds the period specified in the First Schedule, whether or not the lease, extension or renewal is expressed to be governed by the law of Singapore; “Regulations” means any regulations made under section 34; “respondent”, in relation to a complaint of non‑compliance, means the party against whom the complaint is filed with an authorised dispute resolution body; “retail premises” means any premises in Singapore specified in the Second Schedule; “secretariat” means the secretariat to the Committee appointed by the Minister under section 4(2); “tenant” means the person who has the right to occupy any retail premises under a lease. (2) In this Act, where a leasing principle — (a) makes it mandatory for any matter to be included in a lease agreement; but (b) permits the matter to be not so included if the landlord and tenant to the lease agreement agree to the same, the matter that is not so included in the lease agreement with the agreement of the landlord and tenant, is referred to as a permitted deviation. (3) In this Act, where a leasing principle — (a) makes it mandatory for any matter not to be included in a lease agreement; but (b) permits the matter to be so included if the landlord and tenant to the lease agreement agree to the same, the matter that is so included in the lease agreement with the agreement of the landlord and tenant, is referred to as a permitted deviation. (4) In this Act, there is non-compliance with a leasing principle if the leasing principle is one to which section 6(1) applies and any of the following occurs: (a) where the leasing principle makes it mandatory for any matter to be included in a lease agreement — the matter is not included in the lease agreement, unless the matter not so included is a permitted deviation; (b) where the leasing principle makes it mandatory for any matter not to be included in a lease agreement — the matter is included in the lease agreement, unless the matter so included is a permitted deviation; (c) where the leasing principle makes it mandatory for any matter to be included in the lease agreement and the matter is included in the lease agreement — the matter is not complied with; (d) where any matter included in the lease agreement is a permitted deviation or is treated as a term of the lease agreement under section 6(4)(b), 23(5)(b) or 24(5)(b) — the matter is not complied with. (5) Where any lease is extended or renewed (whether or not by virtue of the exercise of an option to renew in the original lease), each extension or renewal is treated for the purposes of this Act as if it were in and of itself a separate lease, and a reference in this Act to the signing of a lease agreement is to the signing of the agreement or option for the extension or renewal of the lease by the person or persons required to sign the same.