Act of Parliament · 2020 Revised Edition · 3 parts
State Lands Act 1920
Feedback & supportRegulating the alienation and occupation of State landsPart 1
Statutory Grants and Leases
Official textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
s 1Short title
This Act is the State Lands Act 1920.
s 2Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“Authority” means the Singapore Land Authority established under the Singapore Land Authority Act 2001;“Collector” has the meaning given by the Land Revenue Collection Act 1940;“Commissioner of Lands” means the individual that the Minister appoints as the Commissioner of Lands under section 6;“grant” means a grant in perpetuity;“grantee” means the owner of a grant;“Singapore Height Datum” has the meaning given by the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act 1998;“State title” means any grant, any grant in fee simple or estate in perpetuity, or any State lease (of whatever tenure) whenever issued or granted by or on behalf of the Crown, the State or the former East India Company;“subterranean space” means the subsoil below the surface of the earth.
“Authority” means the Singapore Land Authority established under the Singapore Land Authority Act 2001;
“Collector” has the meaning given by the Land Revenue Collection Act 1940;
“Commissioner of Lands” means the individual that the Minister appoints as the Commissioner of Lands under section 6;
“grant” means a grant in perpetuity;
“grantee” means the owner of a grant;
“Singapore Height Datum” has the meaning given by the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act 1998;
“State title” means any grant, any grant in fee simple or estate in perpetuity, or any State lease (of whatever tenure) whenever issued or granted by or on behalf of the Crown, the State or the former East India Company;
“subterranean space” means the subsoil below the surface of the earth.
The President may appoint a Chief Valuer in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission unless the President, acting in his or her discretion, does not concur with that advice.
The remuneration and other terms of service of the Chief Valuer must not be altered to his or her disadvantage during his or her continuance in office.[2A
The functions of the Chief Valuer are —
to carry out the valuation of all State lands, lands managed for or on behalf of the Government or buildings on any such land for their disposal; and
to carry out valuation of any lands and buildings required for feasibility studies, court proceedings, arbitration or other purposes.
The Chief Valuer must perform any other duties and may exercise any other powers prescribed by or under any written law.[2B
s 5Access to lands, buildings, etc.
The Chief Valuer or any officer authorised by him or her may —
where reasonably necessary for the purposes of any work undertaken by the Chief Valuer in the performance of his or her functions, enter at all reasonable hours into and upon and inspect any land, building or premises without liability for trespass;
request in writing the owner or occupier of any land, building or premises to provide information to enable the Chief Valuer to carry out that work; and
inspect any books, documents or papers in the charge of any public officer for the purposes of such work and take extracts from those books, documents or papers without fee.[2C
There is to be a Commissioner of Lands appointed by the Minister for the general administration of this Act.
The Minister may also appoint from among officers of the Authority any number of Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners of Lands that may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act and any rules made under this Act.
A Deputy Commissioner or an Assistant Commissioner of Lands may, subject to any special or general directions of the Commissioner, exercise any of the powers conferred on the Commissioner by or under this Act or any other written law.[2D
The President may make rules for the disposal or temporary occupation of State lands.
Rules made under subsection (1) may provide, among other matters, for the following:
the mode in which applications for land are to be made and the terms and conditions on which grants, leases or other dispositions are to be issued;
the total or partial exemption, either absolutely or subject to conditions, of land from rent for a term of years, or for any life or lives, or during the maintenance of any institution;
the time and place at which, and person to whom, rent must be paid.[3
s 8Modes of alienation
Any State land that is alienated or otherwise disposed of, or in respect of which a lease or licence to occupy is issued, under this Act may be alienated, leased or licensed —
as a parcel of the surface earth, so much of the subterranean space below and so much of the column of airspace above the surface as is reasonably necessary for the use and enjoyment of the land;
as a parcel of airspace or subterranean space, whether or not held apart from the surface of the earth; or
only down to such depth below the surface earth as the President may by order direct.[3A
To avoid doubt, it is declared that for all purposes, any land includes only so much of the subterranean space as is reasonably necessary for the use and enjoyment of the land, being —
the depth of subterranean space that is specified in the State title for that land; or
if no such depth is specified, subterranean space to ‑30.000 metres from the Singapore Height Datum.
To avoid doubt, nothing in this section derogates from —
any reservation, by or under this Act or other written law, in favour of the State —
to all mines and minerals, mineral oil, natural gas, stone, clay, sand, gravel, and other natural deposits; or
to enter upon any land and to search for and take any minerals, mineral oil, natural gas, stone, clay, sand, gravel, and other natural deposits which may be found in or below the land;
any condition implied (by or under this Act or other written law) in any State title for any land with respect to opening of or working any mines or quarries, or digging for minerals, mineral oil, natural gas, stone, laterite, clay, sand, gravel, and other natural deposits; or
any rule of law or written law relating to ownership of any column of space above any defined parcel of the surface of the earth.
Any reference in any written law other than this Act to so much of the subterranean space below any land as is reasonably necessary for the use and enjoyment of the land is a reference to —
the depth of subterranean space that is specified in the State title for that land; or
if no such depth is specified, subterranean space to ‑30.000 metres from the Singapore Height Datum.[3B
To avoid doubt, it is further declared that for all purposes, there is implied —
as belonging to each parcel of land — an easement for the subjacent support by any other parcel of land capable of affording such subjacent support; and
as affecting each parcel of land — an easement for the subjacent support of any other parcel of land that is capable of being so supported.
Subject to subsections (3) and (7), the easement implied under subsection (1) also entitles the grantee or lessee of the parcel of land that is the dominant tenement —
to erect or install within subterranean space any structure necessary for the support of the parcel of land, including underpinning or strengthening any building on that parcel of land;
to maintain, replace, renew or restore any such structure erected or installed for the support of that parcel of land; and
to have, upon giving reasonable notice, any access to the servient tenement (through agents and employees) that is reasonably required for erecting or installing any structure mentioned in paragraph (a), or for maintaining, replacing, renewing or restoring any such structure.
The person entitled to the benefit of the easement implied under subsection (1) —
cannot exercise any rights under the easement in a way that unreasonably prevents another person from enjoying the use and occupation of the other person’s land; and
must, when exercising any rights under the easement, take reasonable steps to minimise damage to land or other property from work or activities carried out in the exercise of those rights.
Without affecting subsection (2), the easement implied under subsection (1) confers and imposes all ancillary rights and obligations reasonably necessary to make it effective.
The easements implied under this section take effect and are enforceable without any registration or notification under the Land Titles Act 1993 on the folios relating to the parcel of land concerned.
In this section, any reference to a grantee or lessee of any parcel of land is a reference to the Government if the parcel of land is not the subject of any State title.
Nothing in this section —
derogates from the requirements or effect of any other written law for the time being in force relating to planning and use of land or to building and construction, or from any rule of law relating to lateral support for land; or
prevents the exercise by any public authority or any licensed provider of a utility service of any power under any other written law in good faith and with reasonable care.[3C
Every grant or lease of State land issued under this Part must be in the prescribed form and must be signed by the Collector.
In every such grant and in every lease made by the Crown or the State after 3 May 1907, there is implied, in the absence of an express provision to the contrary, a condition with respect to the land comprised in the grant or lease to the effect that there is reserved to the State or its grantees the right to enter upon the land and to search for and take any mineral oil which may be found in or on the land upon paying to the grantee or lessee of the land such compensation for any damage occasioned thereby as may be assessed by the Collector.
If any person so entitled to compensation is dissatisfied with the compensation as assessed by the Collector, the difference between them must be referred to arbitration, and the sending in by that person of a claim to compensation after the Collector has made an offer of compensation in writing must be treated as a submission to arbitration under the Arbitration Act 2001.
In every grant or lease made by the Crown or the State after 1 December 1915, there is implied, in the absence of an express provision to the contrary, by virtue of this Act in respect of the land comprised in the grant or lease the condition that where any claim is made to the Collector by the owner or occupier of any land adjacent to the land comprised in the grant or lease for a right of way from the owner’s or occupier’s lands over the land comprised in the grant or lease to facilitate the owner’s or occupier’s access to the nearest public road —
the Collector may mark out for the purpose a road or way over the land comprised in the grant or lease;
in that case the owner or occupier of those adjacent lands making the claim is entitled to pass and repass with or without animals or vehicles over the road or way so marked out, making full compensation for damage done to growing crops and permanent improvements; and
the expense of making and maintaining any road or way used for the purpose must be borne by the owner or occupier of those adjacent lands using it, and any dispute relating thereto must be settled by the Collector whose decision is final.
Every grant of land issued under subsection (1) before 1 March 1961 is deemed to confer an estate in perpetuity on the grantee.[4
Where a grant or lease has been issued under this Act, or a certificate has been issued by the Collector pursuant to Part 3 of the Land Titles Act 1993, to an individual who, unknown to the Collector, was deceased at the date of the issue of the grant or lease or Collector’s Certificate and pursuant to the issue of such grant, lease or certificate the Registrar of Titles has issued a certificate of title to the deceased —
the personal representative of the deceased may apply to the Registrar of Titles to have the certificate of title duly amended and endorsed with the personal representative’s name as the registered proprietor of the land comprised in the certificate of title in place of the deceased; and
the Registrar of Titles, if he or she is satisfied that the personal representative has obtained a grant of probate of the will or letters of administration of the estate of the deceased or has been vested with authority to act as such personal representative (as the case may be) must make the appropriate amendment and endorsement on the certificate of title, and the State grant or lease affected, and thereupon section 109 of the Land Titles Act 1993 applies with the necessary modifications.
For the purposes of this section, “personal representative” includes —
an executor, whether original or by representation;
an administrator; or
a trustee,for the time being of the estate of a deceased.[5
In every grant issued under this Part, there is implied, in the absence of an express provision to the contrary, all the following covenants by the grantee with the Government:
that the grantee, the grantee’s executors, administrators and assigns will pay at the time and place prescribed in relation to the land described in the grant, the rent (if any) mentioned in the grant payable in respect of the grant by reason of the periodical revisions mentioned in section 16;
that the grantee, the grantee’s executors, administrators and assigns will maintain in substantial repair all landmarks by which the boundaries of the land are defined;
that the grantee, the grantee’s executors, administrators and assigns will not use any portion of the land for the burial of a human body without the Minister’s written permission;
that the grantee, the grantee’s executors, administrators and assigns will not assign or demise the land in parcels or otherwise than the entirety thereof except in the case of a lease for a term not exceeding 7 years.
The burden of the covenants mentioned in subsection (1) runs with the land comprised in the grant.
If the grantee assigns the land comprised in a grant issued under this Part, and the assignment is duly registered in accordance with the law for the time being in force relating to registration, the personal liability of the grantee in respect of future rent which becomes due under the grant after the date of such registration ceases as from that date.[6
Part 2
Grants in Fee Simple
Part 3