Source from Straits Times.......
Landed home owners may have to dispose of their property within two years if they lose their permanent residency or citizenship status. -- ST PHOTO: LANCE LEE
LANDED home owners may have to dispose of their property within two years if they lose their permanent residency or citizenship status.
Failure to do so could see them fined up to $20,000 and/or jailed up to three years.
This tougher new rule is part of the proposed changes set out in the Residential Property (Amendment) Bill, introduced in Parliament on Monday.
If passed, the new bill will also increase a range of other penalties outlined under the Act.
The Act was introduced in 1973 and imposes restrictions on foreign ownership of restricted properties, namely landed homes, strata-landed housing and vacant residential land.
Foreigners, in this case referring to PRs, must get approval from the Singapore Land Authority before buying. The penalties have not been revised since 1974, despite significant increases in residential property prices.
Stiffer penalties for foreign owners
One key change will see penalties increased for foreign owners who breach the rules. Under the Act, foreign buyers can only purchase one landed home for owner-occupation and not for rental.
He must also sell his existing property before buying a new one, and is not allowed to sell the property in the first few years of ownership. The exact period depends on whether the property is still under construction or completed.
Owners found to breach the above rules will be fined up to $200,000 - up from $5,000 previously, with an additional fine of $2,000 per day for any continuing offence.
In the past, a foreigner who inherits a landed property must sell off the property within 10 years - the new bill has shortened this to five.
Another key change will affect property developers, who have to complete their developments within a certain timeframe and sell all units within two years of receiving its Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP).
Now, developers will be charged a daily fee for any extension of time beyond the given period, similar to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA's) Government Land Sales programme.
