Land Titles Rules

Where 2 or more lots are comprised in a certificate of title (referred to in this paragraph as the original certificate of title), no instrument involving a transfer of ownership of any of those lots shall be accepted for registration, unless —

Where the lot comprised in a certificate of title (referred to in this paragraph as the original certificate of title) has been subdivided, no instrument involving a transfer of any subdivided part of that lot shall be accepted for registration, unless —

Where, for the purpose of registration of any instrument, a document of title is produced by some person other than the person entitled to possession of such document of title, the Registrar may require the instrument to be lodged together with a production form or an authorisation form.

The production form or authorisation form referred to in paragraph (1) —

The Registrar shall not use the document of title for any other purpose except with the consent, expressed or implied, of the person who produced the document of title.

A reference in an endorsement cancelling a previous folio to the instrument or document occasioning the cancellation of that folio shall be sufficient indication of the reason for such cancellation within the meaning of section 30(3) of the Act.

[Deleted by S 256/2005 wef 01/06/2005]

An application for one or more new folios for the whole of the land in an existing folio or for the combination of 2 or more parcels of land in one or more existing folios under section 30 of the Act, or for the creation of a new folio for a leasehold estate, shall be accompanied by the written consent of any registered mortgagee or chargee of land to be comprised in the new folio or folios.

A surrender of a leasehold estate shall be supported by evidence to show that the surrender has been accepted by all necessary parties.

Where an instrument of surrender of a leasehold estate is executed by the lessee with the consent of any mortgagee or chargee of the leasehold estate, the Registrar shall cancel the mortgage or charge upon registration of the surrender.

Upon the surrender of a lease on which any sublease is registered, the Registrar shall enter a notification of the new reversion on the sublease or the folio of the land-register created for the sublease, as the case may be.

Where an easement has been created, varied or wholly or partially extinguished by an order of court, an application shall be made to the Registrar to notify the order of court on the land-register.

An application referred to in paragraph (1) shall be lodged together with a duly certified copy of the order of court.

An application for registration of an enforcement order or an order of court may be made by the claimant in the suit in which the order has been issued, or by a person for whose benefit the order has been issued, or by the person directed, appointed or empowered by the court to deal with the land in respect of which the order has been issued.

[Deleted by S 30/2024 wef 01/02/2024]

An enforcement order issued on a judgment against the personal representative of a deceased proprietor in his capacity as such may be registered against the title to the land of the deceased proprietor.

When the Registrar has entered an enforcement order on the land-register, he shall notify the proprietor against whose interest the enforcement order has been entered.

Any proprietor claiming that an entry in the land-register has ceased to affect his land may request the Registrar to exercise the power of cancellation conferred on him by section 29(8) of the Act.

The Registrar shall not be bound to comply with such request unless he is satisfied that no other method of disposing of the entry in question is reasonably practical.

Whenever the Registrar endorses a discharge of mortgage, or a surrender of lease or any other entry in the land-register, whereby some previous entry ceases to affect the land to which it related, he shall —

Where the Registrar intends to correct the land-register under section 159 of the Act, he shall give 21 days’ notice of his intention to the proprietor and to any other person who, in the opinion of the Registrar, may be affected by the correction.

No such notice need be given if, in the opinion of the Registrar, the intended correction would not prejudice the proprietor or other person.

Where before the issue of a certificate of title pursuant to a primary application some person other than the applicant has or will become entitled to the land therein comprised, the applicant may nominate that person as the proprietor in whose name the certificate of title should be issued.

The Registrar, if he is satisfied that the person nominated is entitled to the whole of the estate in the land as owner of the land and no other person has made any claim in writing against the land, may give effect to such nomination.

All instruments lodged for registration and any plans annexed thereto shall be clearly legible, being either typed, printed or photographically produced, and shall be in a form suitable for microfilming or imaging.

All instruments lodged for registration and any plans annexed thereto shall —

Where an instrument lodged for registration affects part of any land, the part so affected shall be clearly delineated and hatched in the plan annexed to the instrument.

Any annexure to an instrument lodged for registration shall be authenticated by the party taking under or to be bound by the instrument or by his solicitor unless the Registrar dispenses with such authentication.

The Registrar may require that similar terms, covenants and conditions which are intended to apply to 2 or more leases issued by the same lessor, or to 2 or more mortgages created in favour of the same mortgagee, to be set out in a Memorandum of Lease or Memorandum of Mortgage (referred to in this rule as a Document), as the case may be, in the approved form.

The Document shall be filed with the Registrar prior to the lodgment of any such instrument of lease or mortgage in the Registry for registration.

The covenants and conditions set out in a Document filed with the Registrar shall bind the affected parties to every instrument of lease or mortgage which makes a reference to the Document by its number allotted by the Registrar.

The Registrar may refuse to accept for lodgment any instrument of lease or mortgage which exceeds 10 sheets and which sets out in full the terms, covenants and conditions which, in the opinion of the Registrar, should be set out in a Document to be filed with the Registrar prior to the lodgment of the instrument of lease or mortgage.

This rule shall not apply to the standard covenants and conditions for mortgages prescribed under section 172 of the Act.

For the purpose of complying with the requirements of section 19 of the Residential Property Act (Cap. 274), every instrument under which a person acquires an estate or interest in land shall disclose —

The Registrar may require the instrument referred to in paragraph (1) be lodged together with such other documents as the Registrar may require, including a copy of the following:

The family name, surname or the first name of a person (where applicable) acquiring any estate or interest in land under an instrument shall be shown in the instrument in the same order as that shown in his identity card, birth certificate, passport or other document of identity, as the case may be.

[Deleted by S 276/2003 wef 09/06/2003]

Alterations of or additions to any wording in any instrument or plan shall not be made by the parties or their solicitors after the instrument has been registered.

Where consideration is expressed in an instrument to have been paid to any party, the execution of the instrument by that party shall imply an acknowledgment by him of the receipt of such consideration.

Where an approved form expresses the consideration for a transaction in a particular manner, the expression of consideration in any other manner or the omission to express any consideration at all shall not constitute a substantial departure from the approved form.

An instrument for registration that relates to a manual folio or as the Registrar may direct shall be lodged together with a lodgment form containing the following particulars:

A lodgment form shall accompany —

The Registrar may refuse to accept an instrument presented for lodgment if —

Notwithstanding that an instrument may have been accepted for lodgment by the Registrar, an instrument shall be deemed not to have been lodged if the cheque or authorisation for payment of the appropriate fees specified in the Schedule is subsequently dishonoured.

Where, in the opinion of the Registrar, there has been unreasonable delay in complying with any requisition made by him in connection with an instrument (other than a caveat) lodged for registration or notification —

Where a caveat is deemed to have been withdrawn by reason of section 117(3) of the Act, the Registrar shall not be obliged to refund the fee paid in respect of the caveat.

For the purpose of paragraph (1), a delay shall not be considered unreasonable unless —

The land-register shall be open to inspection at the Registry every Monday to Friday (except on a public holiday) from 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., or at such other times as the Registrar may direct.

A person who has been granted permission to inspect the land-register or other documents or records kept at the Registry shall carry out his inspection in an expeditious manner.

Where the Registrar is satisfied that there are members of the public and public officers awaiting their turn to inspect a document which is being inspected by another person, the Registrar may restrict the time available for any person to inspect the document.

A person carrying out an inspection of the land‑register or any other document or record kept at the Registry may on payment of the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule, apply for a photographic copy, microprint or printout of any information contained in that land-register, document or record for his use.

No person shall use any pen or other writing instrument which produces indelible writing to make any alteration of or addition to the land‑register, unless he is authorised by the Registrar to do so.

Any person who fails to comply with paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.

Except with permission of the Registrar, no person shall enter or remain in any part of the Registry not open to the public.

No person shall smoke, drink or eat or behave in a noisy or disorderly manner in any part of the Registry which is open to the public.

The Registrar may direct any person who fails to comply with paragraph (1) or (2) to leave the Registry forthwith and may prohibit that person from making any search at the Registry for such period of time as determined by the Registrar.

Every instrument lodged for registration or notification shall relate to lands comprised wholly in either computer folios or manual folios, and shall not relate to lands comprised partly in a computer folio and a manual folio.

Upon the lodgment of any instrument for registration or notification affecting land comprised in a computer folio, the Registrar shall, not later than 48 hours after 12 noon of the day of such lodgment, enter on the computer folio the particulars of such lodgment.

Any public holiday falling after the lodgment of an instrument shall not be reckoned for the purposes of paragraph (2).

Every instrument which has been registered or notified on the land-register shall be microfilmed or stored by any method for the purpose of preserving the records of the Registry.

The Registrar may, in accordance with section 44 of the Act, forward any document or instrument which has been finally registered or notified to be stored in the National Archives of Singapore or in any relevant Government department.

The fees specified in the Schedule shall be payable to the Registrar in respect of the matters specified in that Schedule.

The fees specified in the Schedule are inclusive of goods and services tax chargeable under the Goods and Services Tax Act (Cap. 117A) on the matters in respect of which the fees are payable.

Where an instrument lodged for registration or notification is, in the opinion of the Registrar, not in order for registration or notification, as the case may be, the Registrar may —

The additional fee payable under paragraph (1)(b) in respect of any instrument which is not in order for registration or notification shall be the fee specified in the Schedule.

The additional fee referred to in paragraph (2) shall in no case be paid by any party to that instrument if he is represented by a solicitor but shall be paid by the solicitor for such party.

Where the Registrar has refused to accept an instrument or set of instruments, as the case may be, for registration or notification without refunding the fee or fees paid in respect thereof, and after such refusal a fresh instrument or set of instruments is lodged in place of the first-mentioned instrument or set of instruments, the fee or fees payable in respect of that fresh instrument or set of instruments shall in no case be paid by any party to that fresh instrument or set of instruments if he is represented by a solicitor but shall be paid by the solicitor for any such party.