Singapore legislation
Section 49A
Section 49A
Owner-initiated acquisition
(1)
Upon receiving a notice under section 49(1) in relation to any temporarily occupied land, any remaining surface land or any severed land (as the case may be), and any other land related to the temporarily occupied land or the remaining surface land, the Collector is to assess whether the owner of those lands suffers or does not suffer substantial impairment of the owner’s rights in those lands because of —
the temporary possession in accordance with a direction under section 42 of the temporarily occupied land;
the acquisition under this Act of the airspace above or the subterranean space below the remaining surface land; or
the severance arising from the acquisition under this Act of any other part of the owner’s land.
(2)
The President is to proceed under this Act to acquire the land that is the subject of a notice under section 49(1) as if the land was needed for a public purpose, if the Collector assesses that the owner of the land giving notice suffers substantial impairment of the owner’s rights in the land because of any of the circumstances described in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c).
(3)
If there is more than one owner of the land concerned giving notice, it is sufficient if the Collector assesses that any one of those owners suffers substantial impairment of that owner’s rights in the land because of any of the circumstances described in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c).
(4)
A fresh notification or other proceedings under section 5, 6 or 8 (as the case may be) is necessary for the acquisition of the land that is the subject of a notice under section 49(1) and in respect of which subsection (5) does not apply.
(5)
However, the President is not to proceed under this section to acquire any land that is the subject of a notice under section 49(1) if —
the notice is not given to the Collector within the claim period applicable to that land; or
the notice is given to the Collector —
for a notice that concerns remaining surface land — after the Collector has made an award under section 10 for the acquisition under this Act of the airspace above or the subterranean space below the remaining surface land; or
for a notice that concerns severed land — after the Collector has made an award under section 10 for the acquisition under this Act of the other part of the owner’s land so severed.
(6)
An owner of any land that is the subject of a notice under section 49(1), may within the prescribed time appeal to the General Division of the High Court against the Collector’s assessment under subsection (2) or (3) as to —
whether any person giving the notice under section 49(1) in relation to any land is an owner of the land; or
whether the owner of the land suffers or does not suffer substantial impairment of the owner’s rights in the land because of any of the circumstances described in subsection (1).
(7)
To avoid doubt, the Collector is not prevented from taking possession of the land under this Act by reason only that an appeal to the General Division of the High Court under subsection (6) in relation to the land is not determined.
(8)
For the purposes of this section, an owner of land suffers substantial impairment of the owner’s rights in the land if, and only if, the owner of the land or, if the owner is not in occupation of the land, any lawful occupier of the land —
is unable, for a period of one year or longer, to use the land, and any land related thereto, according to —
the zoning and density requirements and other restrictions imposed by or under the Planning Act 1998; and
any other restrictive covenants in the State title for the land and the land related thereto (if any); and
is displaced from the land and any land related thereto for a period of one year or longer,solely by reason of any of the circumstances described in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c).
(9)
In this section —
Definition
“claim period” means —
for any temporarily occupied land and land related to that temporarily occupied land — one year starting from either of the following dates:
the date of the last notice under section 42(3) relating to the temporarily occupied land;
the date of the expiry of the last term of temporary occupation determined under section 42(1) for the temporary occupation and use of the temporarily occupied land, or the date the land is returned to the owner if earlier;
for any land above which only the airspace, or any land below which only the subterranean space, is or has been acquired under section 5 (called the remaining surface land) and land related to that remaining surface land — one year starting from the date of acquisition for that airspace or subterranean space, as the case may be; and
for any land remaining after any other part of the owner’s land is severed because of an acquisition under this Act — one year starting from the date of acquisition for that other land so acquired;
Definition
“date of acquisition”, for any land, airspace or subterranean space acquired under this Act, means the date of the publication of the notification under section 5(1) declaring that the land, airspace or subterranean space is needed for the purpose specified in that declaration;
Definition
“displace”, in relation to a person in occupation of any land, means being compelled to relocate the person’s principal place of residence or business on that land as a result of —
the taking of temporary possession of that land;
the acquisition under this Act of airspace above, or subterranean space below, that land; or
any severance;
Definition
“severance” means severing of land acquired under this Act from other land;
Definition
“temporary possession”, in relation to land, means temporary possession of the land taken in accordance with a direction under section 42.