Singapore Relaxes Ruling on Land Sales and Use

Land resource is limited in Singapore. Even as the government owns about 90% of the land here and URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) projects are undertaken at an optimal pace, the availability of land has always been a serious consideration. Land reclamation from the sea is hard pressed to keep up with Singapore’s dynamic rate of growth.

Such being the case, regulatory safeguards had been put in place to ensure that land sales, as well as the use of such land, achieved an optimal level of functionality. This also ensured an adequate supply of business and residential properties be available to meet projected demand.

Adjustments to the GLS (Government Land Sales) Program

The MND (Ministry of National Development) announced on the 31st of October 2008 that ammendments had been made to the GLS Program. These changes are as follow:

1. The GLS Program for the remainder of this year shall be adjusted. This means that the majority of the Confirmed List of sites shall be transferred to the Reserve List.

2. The Confirmed List of sites for the first 2 quarters of the GLS Program for the year 2009 shall be suspended.

3. The lifting of the ban on conversion of office space to other uses in the Central Area.

The Confirmed List of sites are sites that have been successfully tendered out while the Reserved List of sites are where unreleased sites are kept for future consideration. By withholding the release of sites for new development and redevelopment, the government is able to minimize a drastic fall in real estate valuations that is expected to result from the present economic climate of uncertainty.

Lifting on Ban on Conversion of Office Space
in the Central Area to Other Uses

Singapore Central Business District by the Sea

The Singapore government has announced the lifting of the ban on coverting office space to other uses in the CBD (Central Business District). Previously, this ban was a necessary precaution that ensured that a minimum quota of office space in the CBD was maintained. This was in keeping with the previous government mater plan where the CBD was envisaged to expand out into its neighbouring districts in phases.

Two primary factors have prompted the lifting of this ban: the present uncertainties of the global economic climate, and the eagerly anticipated completion of the New Central Business District at Marina Bay. This not only provides much needed flexibility for the fluctuations in evolving and emerging business, but it would also uphold real estate rental and sale prices for properties within the CBD.

Such government initiatives had done much to support the Singapore Economy during the Global Economic Recession in 1984 and the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. The GLS Program is ammended as and where the government deems it necessary to offset global and regional downturns. And it is for this very reason that real estate prices remain as stable as they are in Singapore today.