Town Councils Act 1988 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 6 · Financial Provisions
53. Conservancy and service charges
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2005.
For the purposes of carrying out its duties and functions under this Act or any other Act, a Town Council may in each month levy conservancy and service charges at such rates as it may determine in accordance with its by-laws in respect of every flat in any residential or commercial property and every stall in any market or food centre of the Board within the Town.
Town Council
“Town Council”, in relation to a Town, means the Town Council established under section 4 for that Town;
Charges levied by a Town Council under subsection (1) are payable, subject to this section, by the owner or tenant of every such flat or stall, as the case may be.
charges
“charges” means the conservancy and service charges levied by a Town Council under section 53;
In respect of any charges levied under subsection (1) and the interest thereon, the owner of a flat is liable, jointly and severally with any person who was liable to pay the charges and interest when the charges become due and payable, to pay the charges and interest to the Town Council.
owner
“owner”, in relation to any property sold by the Board, includes a person who has purchased a leasehold interest in the property and a purchaser under an agreement for a lease;
A person who has ceased to be the owner of the flat is only liable to pay the charges which were unpaid at the time the person ceased to be the owner and the interest accruing on the unpaid charges until such time as they are paid.
flat
“flat” 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, which is used or intended to be used as a complete and separate unit for the purpose of human habitation or business;
Any charges levied under subsection (1) —
become due and payable to a Town Council in accordance with the by-laws of the Town Council; and
if not paid within the month when the charges become due and payable to a Town Council, bear interest at such rate as the Town Council thinks fit and such interest accrues from the expiry of the month after the date when the charges become due and payable unless the Town Council determines either generally or in a particular case that any unpaid charges bear no interest, and any interest so paid forms part of the fund to which the charges belong.
Where any charges and interest thereon levied under this section are not paid within the month when they become due and payable, a Town Council may serve a written demand on an owner or a tenant of the flat or stall in respect of which the charges are levied.
Any owner or tenant of a flat or stall who fails to pay any charges or interest due and owing to a Town Council within 14 days from the date the written demand mentioned in subsection (6) is served on the owner or tenant shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.
The court before which the conviction is had may, in addition to such fine, order the owner or tenant to pay to the Town Council the amount of any charges together with any interest due thereon or any interest certified by the Town Council to be due from the owner or tenant at the date of the owner’s or tenant’s conviction and such amount may be recovered according to the law for the time being in force for the recovery of fines.
Upon the expiry of the period provided under section 75(1) after the establishment of a Town Council for the Town and so long as a Town Council is established for the Town, any term in any lease made by the Board relating to the payment of conservancy and service charges by any owner or tenant of a flat in any residential or commercial property or by any tenant of a stall in any market or food centre of the Board within the Town has no effect and such charges are thereupon payable to the Town Council in accordance with this section.
Without limiting any particular power of a Town Council, any charges levied by the Town Council under this section may be —
varied by the Town Council from time to time; or
remitted or refunded in whole or in part.
A Town Council may under this section levy different rates of charges in respect of flats in any residential or commercial property or of stalls in any market or food centre of the Board in accordance with such criteria as it may determine.
commercial property
“commercial property” means any building or premises vested in or belonging to the Board (or part of such building or premises) which is permitted under the Planning Act 1998 to be used wholly or partly as —(a)a market, food centre, confectionery, bakery, restaurant or bar, or an eating house;(b)an office or a place of business and for conducting administrative work; or(c)a shop or premises for the carrying on of any trade or business where the primary purpose is the sale of goods by retail or the provision of services;Examples A furniture shop, department store, supermarket, dispensary, medical clinic, dental clinic, beauty salon, ticket agency, travel agency, laundry shop, dry cleaner’s shop, pet shop, video games arcade, computer gaming centre, billiard saloon, bowling alley, bank or multimedia kiosk, or an automated teller machine.(d)a place —(i)for the care or education, or care and education, of children below 7 years of age; or(ii)at which 5 or more school-going children who are 7 years of age or older but below 14 years of age are habitually received for the purposes of care and supervision before or after school hours;(e)premises —(i)for the reception, lodging and care of aged or disabled persons or persons suffering or convalescing from any sickness, injury or infirmity; or(ii)for any type of examination of the human body or of any matter derived from the human body for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of any disease or for the assessment of the health of any person;Examples A hospice, convalescent home or nursing home, or a dialysis centre, cancer screening centre or medical health centre.(f)a kindergarten registered under section 23 of the Education Act 1957 or an institution providing education or instruction;Examples A tuition centre, language school, computer school, music school, dance school, speech and drama school, child development centre or play school, or an art school or acting school.(g)a sports club, community centre, community club, family service centre or residents’ committee centre, or premises for community-based activities, and includes an office of such a club, centre or committee; or(h)a police post, fire station or civil defence centre,but excludes any property specified or described by the Minister, by order in the Gazette, as not to be a commercial property for the purposes of this Act;
Without limiting subsection (11), a Town Council may differentiate the rates of charges to take into account any grants‑in‑aid made under section 56 which are expressed to be for the benefit of any class of owners of flats.
Any written demand required by this section to be served on the owner or tenant of a flat or stall is deemed to be sufficiently served —
if the demand is delivered to the owner or tenant or is delivered at the flat or stall to some adult member or employee of his or her family;
if it is sent to the owner or tenant by registered post to his or her flat or his or her usual or last known place of abode or business; or
if it is affixed to some conspicuous part of his or her flat.
In this section, “owner”, in relation to a flat or stall, includes —
the person for the time being receiving the rent of the flat, whether as agent, trustee or receiver, or who would receive the rent if the flat were let to a tenant;
the personal representative of the estate of an owner or a tenant who is deceased;
the Board in respect of any flat in any residential or commercial property or any stall in any market or food centre of the Board which is not leased out by the Board at the time the charges are levied; and
the person whose name is included in the Valuation List mentioned in the Property Tax Act 1960 as the owner of the flat for the purposes of that Act.[39