Act of Parliament · 2020 Revised Edition
Sale of Commercial Properties Act 1979
Feedback & supportSale of separate units in commercial complexesOfficial textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
s 1Short title
This Act is the Sale of Commercial Properties Act 1979.
s 2Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“building” includes any completed building, or any building partially completed or to be erected, and intended for any strata subdivision as shown in a development plan approved by the relevant competent authority under the Planning Act 1998 or is comprised in one or more lots as shown in a strata title plan lodged with the Registrar of Titles;“Building Authority” has the meaning given by the Building Control Act 1989;“building project” means a building project consisting of any commercial property;“commercial property” means a horizontal stratum of any building or part thereof, whether the stratum is on one or more levels or is partially or wholly below the surface of the ground, and is intended for use in accordance with the provisions of any written law as a complete and separate unit for any purpose other than a residential purpose;“Controller” means the Controller of Housing appointed under section 3 of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act 1965;“developer” means any person who, in the course of business, undertakes —
the construction of commercial property for the purpose of sale by the person; and
the sale by the person of land which would be appurtenant to such commercial property;“FATF” means the intergovernmental body known as the Financial Action Task Force;“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;“land” includes land of any tenure, any building or part thereof, so much of the airspace above the surface as may be reasonably used or enjoyed by any proprietor, and so much of the subterranean space below the surface as is reasonably necessary for the use and enjoyment of the land, whether or not held apart from the surface, and any estate or interest therein;“lot” means a stratum which is shown as a lot on a strata title plan;[Deleted by Act 15 of 2025 wef 01/07/2025]“money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing offence” means an offence under —
sections 50 to 57 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992;
the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act 2002;
any regulations made under the United Nations Act 2001;
section 5A(5), 5B(5), 5C(6), 5D(2) or 5E(4) 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;
section 12A(2), 12B(3), 12C(5), 12D(2), 12E(6) or 12F(2) of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act 1965 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;
any provision of any other written law relating to the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing; or
the law of any foreign country or territory relating to the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing;“proliferation financing” means the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;“purchaser”, in relation to a developer, means a person —
to whom the developer grants an option to purchase from the developer any commercial property in a building project undertaken by that developer; or
who agrees to purchase from the developer any commercial property in a building project undertaken by that developer, and includes a prospective purchaser;“Registrar of Titles” means the Registrar of Titles appointed under the Land Titles Act 1993;“registered land” has the meaning given by the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967;“strata subdivision” has the meaning given by the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967;“strata title plan” means a plan of registered land showing strata subdivision of any building into 2 or more lots and contains the particulars prescribed by section 10 of the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967;“stratum” means any part of land consisting of a space of any shape below, on or above the surface of the land, or partly below and partly above the surface of the land, the dimensions of which are delineated;“substantial shareholder”, in relation to a company, has the meaning given by section 81 of the Companies Act 1967.
“building” includes any completed building, or any building partially completed or to be erected, and intended for any strata subdivision as shown in a development plan approved by the relevant competent authority under the Planning Act 1998 or is comprised in one or more lots as shown in a strata title plan lodged with the Registrar of Titles;
“Building Authority” has the meaning given by the Building Control Act 1989;
“building project” means a building project consisting of any commercial property;
“commercial property” means a horizontal stratum of any building or part thereof, whether the stratum is on one or more levels or is partially or wholly below the surface of the ground, and is intended for use in accordance with the provisions of any written law as a complete and separate unit for any purpose other than a residential purpose;
“Controller” means the Controller of Housing appointed under section 3 of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act 1965;
“developer” means any person who, in the course of business, undertakes —
the construction of commercial property for the purpose of sale by the person; and
the sale by the person of land which would be appurtenant to such commercial property;
“FATF” means the intergovernmental body known as the Financial Action Task Force;
“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;
“land” includes land of any tenure, any building or part thereof, so much of the airspace above the surface as may be reasonably used or enjoyed by any proprietor, and so much of the subterranean space below the surface as is reasonably necessary for the use and enjoyment of the land, whether or not held apart from the surface, and any estate or interest therein;
“lot” means a stratum which is shown as a lot on a strata title plan;
“money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing offence” means an offence under —
sections 50 to 57 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992;
the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act 2002;
any regulations made under the United Nations Act 2001;
section 5A(5), 5B(5), 5C(6), 5D(2) or 5E(4) 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;
section 12A(2), 12B(3), 12C(5), 12D(2), 12E(6) or 12F(2) of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act 1965 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;
any provision of any other written law relating to the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing; or
the law of any foreign country or territory relating to the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing;
“proliferation financing” means the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
“purchaser”, in relation to a developer, means a person —
to whom the developer grants an option to purchase from the developer any commercial property in a building project undertaken by that developer; or
who agrees to purchase from the developer any commercial property in a building project undertaken by that developer, and includes a prospective purchaser;
“Registrar of Titles” means the Registrar of Titles appointed under the Land Titles Act 1993;
“registered land” has the meaning given by the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967;
“strata subdivision” has the meaning given by the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967;
“strata title plan” means a plan of registered land showing strata subdivision of any building into 2 or more lots and contains the particulars prescribed by section 10 of the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967;
“stratum” means any part of land consisting of a space of any shape below, on or above the surface of the land, or partly below and partly above the surface of the land, the dimensions of which are delineated;
“substantial shareholder”, in relation to a company, has the meaning given by section 81 of the Companies Act 1967.
A person must not sell any commercial property unless the plans for the construction or erection of the commercial property have been approved by the Building Authority.
For the purposes of this section, a person is said to sell a commercial property if —
by an agreement in writing, the person agrees to divest the person’s estate or interest in the commercial property to another person for valuable consideration; or
by any deed or instrument, the person conveys, assigns, demises or otherwise disposes of the commercial property in such a manner so that it becomes capable of being registered under the Registration of Deeds Act 1988, the Land Titles Act 1993 or the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967.
A lease or an agreement for a lease for a term of years not exceeding 7 years without the option of renewal or purchase is not to be deemed a sale for the purposes of this section.
s 4Option to purchase
An option to purchase any commercial property given by a vendor to a purchaser must be in such form as may be prescribed, except that any additional term or condition which in substance does not affect the prescribed form may be included in the form.
Every agreement for the sale and purchase of a commercial property must contain such terms and conditions of sale as may be prescribed by rules made under this Act.
Any term or condition of sale in an agreement of sale and purchase mentioned in subsection (1) which is inconsistent with the terms and conditions of sale prescribed by rules made under this Act is to the extent of the inconsistency void.
A developer must not, in connection with any building project developed by the developer, open or maintain any account for, or hold and receive moneys from —
an anonymous source; or
a purchaser with an obviously fictitious name.
A developer must perform such customer due diligence measures as may be prescribed at such times as may be prescribed.
A developer must perform —
the prescribed measures relating to targeted financial sanctions against terrorism, terrorism financing and proliferation financing; and
any prescribed additional measures which are necessary or expedient to give effect to any relevant FATF Recommendation.
Where a developer knows or has reasonable grounds to suspect any matter mentioned in section 45(1) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992, the developer must, in accordance with section 45 of that Act, disclose the matter to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under that Act by way of a suspicious transaction report.
A developer that contravenes subsection (1), (2), (3) or (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000.
A developer must keep, for such period as may be prescribed, all documents and information (including any analysis performed) relating to a person that the developer obtains as a result of performing the customer due diligence measures required by section 5A(2).
For the purposes of subsection (1), different periods may be prescribed for different documents and information.
A developer must keep the documents and information required to be kept under subsection (1) in such form as may be prescribed.
A developer must make the documents and information required to be kept under subsection (1) available upon request to the Controller or an inspector and such other authorities as may be prescribed.
A developer that contravenes subsection (1), (3) or (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000.
Without limiting sections 5A and 5B, a developer must, in relation to its business of carrying on or undertaking a building project in Singapore, implement adequate programmes and measures to prevent money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing.
A developer must, in particular —
take appropriate steps to identify, assess and understand the money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing risks in relation to —
its purchasers;
the countries or jurisdictions which its purchasers are from or in;
the countries or jurisdictions in which the developer has operations; and
its services, transactions and delivery channels;
for the purpose of paragraph (a) —
document its risk assessments;
consider all relevant risk factors before determining the overall level of risk and the appropriate type and extent of mitigation to be applied;
keep its risk assessments up to date; and
have appropriate mechanisms to provide its risk assessments to the Controller;
develop and implement internal policies, procedures and controls, which must be approved by its senior management, to manage and effectively mitigate the money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing risks identified by it or notified to it by the Controller, including —
making appropriate compliance management arrangements, including the appointment of a compliance officer at the management level; and
applying adequate screening procedures when hiring employees;
have an ongoing programme to train employees on the internal policies, procedures and controls mentioned in paragraph (c);
have an independent audit function to test the internal policies, procedures and controls mentioned in paragraph (c); and
monitor the implementation of the internal policies, procedures and controls mentioned in paragraph (c), and enhance them if necessary.
The type and extent of the measures to be taken under subsections (1) and (2) must be appropriate having regard to the risk of money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing and the size of the developer’s business.
Where a developer is a company incorporated in Singapore and has a branch or subsidiary, whether in Singapore or elsewhere, the developer must develop and implement a group‑level programme to prevent money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing, which programme —
must be applicable to the developer’s branches and subsidiaries, whether in Singapore or elsewhere; (b)must include the measures specified under subsection (2);
must be appropriate to the business of the developer’s branches and subsidiaries; (d)must be implemented effectively at the level of the developer’s branches and subsidiaries; (e)must include policies and procedures for providing and sharing information required for the purposes of customer due diligence measures prescribed for the purposes of section 5A(2) and generally for the management of risks relating to money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing; and
must include adequate safeguards on the confidentiality and use of information exchanged between the developer and its branches and subsidiaries.
Where a developer mentioned in subsection (4) has a branch or subsidiary in a country or territory outside Singapore that has laws for the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing that differ from those in Singapore —
the developer must require the management of that branch or subsidiary to apply the more stringent set of laws, to the extent that the law of the host country or territory permits; and
where that branch or subsidiary is unable to fully apply the more stringent set of laws, the developer must report this to the Controller and must, in lieu of paragraph (a), comply with such directions as may be given by the Controller.
A developer that contravenes subsection (1), (2), (4) or (5) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000.
A person —
who has been convicted (whether before, on or after the date of commencement of section 17(i) of the Anti‑Money Laundering and Other Matters (Estate Agents and Developers) Act 2025) of any money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing offence; or (b)if a company, partnership, society or limited liability partnership, which has an individual mentioned in paragraph (a) holding a responsible position in that company, partnership, society or limited liability partnership, as the case may be,must not be or become a substantial shareholder of a developer, whether by increasing the person’s shareholding in the developer or otherwise.
A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000.