Interpretation of this Part
75. In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires —“commercial property upgrading works”, in relation to a precinct, means any items of upgrading works specified by the Board to be carried out —(a)
within any commercial property within the precinct;
(b)
on common property within the precinct; or
(c)
on or in both properties in paragraphs (a) and (b),
for the purpose of improving, or encouraging a diversity of, local retail convenience shopping facilities and associated commercial and community activities that support and reinforce the economic and social wellbeing of and employment opportunities for persons within that precinct;
[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
“flat” does not include such property as may be prescribed;
“flat upgrading works” means —(a)
any items of upgrading works specified by the Board to be carried out —(i)
within a flat comprised in a building;
(ii)
within a building or any part of a building not comprised in a flat for the provision of a service in relation to water, sewerage, drainage, gas, electricity, garbage or conditioned air, or other services relating to telephone, radio, television or any other means of telecommunication, that are reasonably necessary for or connected with the enjoyment of any flat comprised in the building; or
(b)
any other items of upgrading works approved by the Minister, being works to be carried out within a building or any part of a building not comprised in a flat, to —(i)
facilitate the access to, and use of, the building and its facilities by persons with physical disabilities; or
(ii)
improve the fire safety or other safety features of the building or such other performance requirements for buildings as may be prescribed by any other written law,
but does not include any specified upgrading works;
“general upgrading works” means any upgrading works to be carried out in a precinct other than specified upgrading works, special upgrading works, commercial property upgrading works and flat upgrading works;[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
“improvement contribution” means the costs in respect of general upgrading works, specified upgrading works, special upgrading works, commercial property upgrading works or flat upgrading works that are recoverable by the Board from the owner of a flat or a Town Council under section 78(2) or (3), as the case may be;[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
“precinct” means a precinct declared by the Minister under section 76;
“residential flat” means a flat which is permitted to be used pursuant to the Planning Act 1998 or any other written law wholly for the purpose of human habitation, and “non‑residential flat” means any flat other than a residential flat;
“special upgrading works” means —(a)
any items of work necessary or ancillary to installing any lift or additional lift within or in relation to any building or part of a building; or
(b)
any other items of upgrading works prescribed by the Minister, being works to be carried out within or in relation to any building or part of a building (other than any part comprised in a flat) within a precinct for the erection, construction or installation of functional facilities for the convenience of residents of that building in general or a section of those residents;
“specified upgrading works” means any items of upgrading works specified by the Board to be carried out in a building or part of a building within a precinct as a result of which the floor area of a flat in the building will be increased, but does not include any special upgrading works and flat upgrading works;
“Town Council” means a Town Council established under the Town Councils Act 1988;
“transfer” means a conveyance, sale, purchase, assignment, legal or equitable mortgage, charge, surrender or disposal in any manner of any estate or interest in a flat and includes a discharge of a mortgage, a reconveyance or the devolution of the rights of a deceased owner of a flat to another person;
“upgrading works” includes any building operations, repair, demolition or installation works carried out for the purposes of improving or upgrading any flat, building or land and any addition to, or alteration in, landlord’s fixtures and fittings;
“value”, in relation to a prescribed owner of any flat, means the value determined in the prescribed manner for that owner in respect of the owner’s vote.[65A
[29/2005; 1/2008]
Declaration of precincts
76.—(1) The Minister may, after consulting the Board, from time to time by order in the Gazette, declare any housing estate of the Board or any part thereof to be a precinct for the purposes of carrying out any upgrading works in the precinct.
(2) Any order made under subsection (1) must include a plan with a description of the housing estate and the buildings within the precinct.
(3) The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, revoke or amend any order made under subsection (1).
(4) In this section, any reference to the Minister includes a reference to a Minister of State for the Ministry of National Development.[65B
[23/2005]
Upgrading works in precinct
77.—(1) Where a precinct has been declared under section 76, the Board must —(a)
make arrangements to conduct in the manner prescribed a poll (in combination with another poll or otherwise) of prescribed owners of the flats within the precinct with a view to establishing their opinions about any proposal to carry out any of the following:(i)
general upgrading works within the precinct together with specified upgrading works (if any) in any building within the precinct;
(ii)
special upgrading works within a building, or in relation to more than one building, in the precinct;
(iii)
flat upgrading works within any building in the precinct; [Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
(iv)
commercial property upgrading works within the precinct; and[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
(b)
do such other things as the Minister may direct.[1/2008]
(2) A poll conducted in connection with any proposal to carry out special upgrading works within a building, or in relation to more than one building, in a precinct must be a poll of the prescribed owners of prescribed flats within the building or buildings (as the case may be), being flats the occupants of which directly benefit from the special upgrading works.[29/2005]
(3) A poll conducted in connection with any proposal to carry out any flat upgrading works within any building in a precinct must be a poll of the prescribed owners of prescribed flats within the building.[1/2008]
(3A) A poll conducted in connection with any proposal to carry out commercial property upgrading works within a precinct must be a poll of the prescribed owners of commercial property the owners of which will benefit from the commercial property upgrading works within that precinct.[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
(4) The Board may, with the Minister’s approval, carry out general upgrading works within a precinct if it appears from a poll conducted under subsection (1)(a) of the prescribed owners of flats within the precinct that 75% or more of the total value in votes of all prescribed owners of all flats within the precinct have been cast in favour of the proposal to carry out those upgrading works.
(5) Where the Minister has approved the carrying out of general upgrading works in a precinct under subsection (4), and —(a)
in the case of a building comprising wholly of residential flats — it appears from a poll conducted under subsection (1)(a) of the prescribed owners of flats comprised in the building that 75% or more of the total value in votes of all prescribed owners of all flats in the building have been cast in favour of any proposal to carry out any specified upgrading works in the building; or
(b)
in the case of a building comprising residential and non‑residential flats —(i)
it appears from a poll conducted under subsection (1)(a) of the prescribed owners of residential flats comprised in the building that 75% or more of the total value in votes of all prescribed owners of all such residential flats have been cast in favour of any proposal to carry out any specified upgrading works in the part of the building comprising residential flats; and
(ii)
it appears from another poll conducted under subsection (1)(a) of the prescribed owners of non‑residential flats comprised in the same building that 75% or more of the total value in votes of all prescribed owners of all such non‑residential flats have been cast in favour of any proposal to carry out any specified upgrading works in the part of the building comprising non‑residential flats,
the Board may, with the Minister’s further approval, carry out those specified upgrading works in the building within the precinct.
(6) Despite subsection (5), where it appears from the polls mentioned in subsection (5)(b) that the minimum percentage of value in votes have been cast in favour of the proposal to carry out any specified upgrading works in a building by the prescribed owners of residential flats in the building but not by the prescribed owners of non-residential flats comprised in that building, the Board may, with the approvals of the Minister mentioned in subsection (5), carry out the specified upgrading works in the part of the building comprising residential flats.
(7) The poll mentioned in subsection (5)(b)(ii) must be conducted in relation to a building if it appears from the poll mentioned in subsection (5)(b)(i) that 75% or more of the total value in votes of all prescribed owners of all residential flats in the building have been cast in favour of the proposal to carry out specified upgrading works in the part of the building comprising residential flats, but not otherwise.
(8) The Board may, with the Minister’s approval, carry out special upgrading works within a building, or in relation to more than one building, within a precinct if, and only if —(a)
it appears from a poll of the owners mentioned in subsection (2) that 75% or more of the total value in votes of such owners within the building or buildings (as the case may be) have been cast in favour of the proposal to carry out special upgrading works within that building or in relation to those buildings; and
(b)
where the proposal is for the special upgrading works to be carried out within or in relation to any building in the precinct together with any general upgrading works within the precinct, it also appears from a poll of prescribed owners mentioned in subsection (4) that 75% or more of the total value in votes of all such owners of all flats within the precinct have been cast in favour of the proposal to carry out the general upgrading works in the precinct.[29/2005]
(9) The Board may, with the Minister’s approval, carry out any flat upgrading works within any building or buildings within a precinct if, and only if, it appears from a poll of the owners mentioned in subsection (3) that 75% or more of the total value in votes of such owners of flats within each such building have been cast in favour of the proposal to carry out the flat upgrading works within that building.[1/2008]
(9A) The Board may, with the Minister’s approval, carry out any commercial property upgrading works within a precinct if, and only if, it appears from a poll of the owners mentioned in subsection (3A) that 75% or more of the total value in votes of those owners have been cast in favour of the proposal to carry out those upgrading works.[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
(10) No poll is invalid by reason of any failure to comply with any provision of this Part or any rules made thereunder relating to the conduct of a poll if it appears that the poll was conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in that provision, and that the failure did not affect the result of the poll.
(11) In this section, “owner” includes the Board in respect of any flat which the Board has not sold the leasehold interest therein.
(12) Any poll conducted by the Board before 1 April 1992 in any housing estate of the Board or any part thereof with a view to establishing the opinions of owners of the flats within the housing estate about proposals to carry out general upgrading works or specified upgrading works is deemed to be a poll conducted in accordance with this section.[65C
Power to carry out upgrading works and to recover contribution
78.—(1) As soon as practicable after the Minister has given his or her approval under section 77(4), (5), (8), (9) or (9A), the Board must carry out, in such manner as the Board thinks fit —(a)
the general upgrading works within the precinct and, where applicable, the specified upgrading works in any building within the precinct;
(b)
the special upgrading works within a building, or in relation to more than one building, in a precinct; [Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
(c)
the flat upgrading works within any building in the precinct; or[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
(d)
the commercial property upgrading works within the precinct,[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
as the case may be.
[1/2008]
[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
(2) Where the Board has completed any general upgrading works or specified upgrading works in a precinct under this section, the Board may recover from —(a)
the owner of every flat within the precinct the costs incurred by the Board in respect of the general upgrading works and the specified upgrading works (if any); and
(b)
the Town Council responsible for the maintenance of the common property within the precinct the costs incurred by the Board in respect of the general upgrading works carried out on the common property.
(3) Where the Board has completed any special upgrading works or flat upgrading works in a building in a precinct under this section, the Board may recover the costs incurred by the Board in respect of the special upgrading works or flat upgrading works from —(a)
every owner of such flats in the building as are mentioned in section 77(2) in the case of special upgrading works or section 77(3) in the case of flat upgrading works; and
(b)
the Town Council responsible for the maintenance of the common property comprised in the building if the special upgrading works or flat upgrading works have been carried out on the common property.[1/2008]
(3A) Where the Board has completed any commercial property upgrading works within a precinct under this section, the Board may recover from —(a)
every owner of such commercial property within the precinct as is mentioned in section 77(3A), the costs incurred by the Board in respect of the commercial property upgrading works; and
(b)
the Town Council responsible for the maintenance of the common property within the precinct the costs incurred by the Board in respect of the commercial property upgrading works carried out on the common property.[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
(4) The amount of improvement contribution payable by the owner of a flat and a Town Council under subsection (2), (3) or (3A) is to be determined by the Board whose decision is final.[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
(5) In this section and section 80, “owner”, in relation to any flat sold by the Board —(a)
means the person who is the owner of the flat at the time the improvement contribution is determined by the Board under subsection (4); and
(b)
includes an equitable owner, a person who has purchased a leasehold interest in the flat and a purchaser under an agreement for a lease.[65D
Direction of Minister to carry out upgrading works in certain circumstances
79.—(1) Despite anything in this Part, where the Minister considers that the living conditions in a precinct or the physical state and design of the buildings in the precinct can be improved by the carrying out of any upgrading works, the Minister may direct the Board to carry out such upgrading works in the precinct as he or she thinks fit.
(2) Where the Minister has given a direction under subsection (1), the Board must as soon as practicable carry out such upgrading works as may be specified in the direction in such manner as the Board thinks fit.
(3) All costs incurred by the Board in respect of any upgrading works in a precinct under this section must be paid out of the funds of the Board.[65E
Payment of improvement contribution
80.—(1) Any owner of a flat and any Town Council liable to pay any improvement contribution under section 78 must, upon a written demand by the Board, pay to the Board the improvement contribution not later than one month from the date of the written demand.
(2) Where —(a)
no representation has been taken out under a will or on the intestacy of a deceased owner of a flat; or
(b)
representation has been taken out but the personal representatives fail to apply for the written consent of the Board for the transmission or transfer of the flat,
the Board may, for the purposes of recovering any improvement contribution, require the spouse (if any) of the deceased owner or any beneficiary of the deceased owner’s estate who has attained the age of 21 years to pay the improvement contribution as if it is a debt owed by him or her and recoverable from him or her as such, and such person may recover the sums paid by him or her to the Board from the estate of the deceased owner.
(3) If any improvement contribution or any part thereof is not paid by the owner of a flat or a Town Council (as the case may be) on the date due, the owner of the flat, the Town Council or any person liable to pay the improvement contribution must pay interest and a penalty in accordance with the rates prescribed and the interest and penalty, if unpaid, constitute a debt due to the Board and are recoverable as such.[65F
Transfer of additional floor area
81.—(1) Where the floor area of a flat is increased as a result of any upgrading works carried out by the Board under this Part, the title to the additional floor area vests in the owner of the flat in the following manner:(a)
where the additional floor area of the flat is constructed over land registered under the Registration of Deeds Act 1988 — the title to the additional floor area vests for the same estate and interest as that subsisting over the flat in the owner for the time being of the flat upon the acceptance by the Registrar of Deeds of the notice of vesting of the additional floor area presented by the Board for notification in the Registry of Deeds; and
(b)
where the additional floor area of the flat is constructed over land registered under the Land Titles Act 1993 — the title to the additional floor area vests in the registered proprietor or owner for the time being of the subsidiary strata lot comprising the flat for the same estate and interest subsisting in respect of that subsidiary strata lot upon the acceptance by the Registrar of Titles of an instrument to vest the additional floor area presented by the Board for notification in the Registry of Titles.
(2) For the purposes of recording the vesting of the title to the additional floor area of a flat under subsection (1), the Registrar of Deeds or the Registrar of Titles (as the case may be) must notify such additional floor area in the books of the Registry of Deeds or on the affected lease of the flat or on the relevant folio of the land-register, as the case may be.
(3) Where there is a subsisting mortgage, charge or other encumbrance on a flat, the additional floor area of the flat forms part of the security of the mortgage subject to the same terms and conditions stipulated therein upon the acceptance by the Registrar of Deeds or the Registrar of Titles (as the case may be) of the notice of vesting of the additional floor area or the instrument to vest the additional floor area presented by the Board for notification in the Registry of Deeds or Registry of Titles.
(4) Any transfer or dealing in respect of a flat on or after the acceptance by the Registrar of Deeds or the Registrar of Titles (as the case may be) of the notice of vesting of the additional floor area of the flat or the instrument to vest the additional floor area of the flat presented by the Board for notification in the Registry of Deeds or Registry of Titles is deemed to include the additional floor area.
(5) Any power exercised by the Board under section 78 or 79 in respect of any flat is deemed to have been properly exercised and the Registrar of Titles, the Registrar of Deeds and any purchaser of the flat need not be concerned to inquire into the regularity or validity of the exercise of the power.
(6) For the purposes of notification or registration of any instrument under this section, the Registrar of Deeds or the Registrar of Titles (as the case may be) may dispense with the production of the duplicate lease of the flat or the duplicate subsidiary certificate of title in respect of the flat, as the case may be.[65G
Recovery of improvement contribution from sale of flat
82.—(1) Where any improvement contribution payable in respect of any flat to the Board under section 78 remains unpaid on the expiry of the period of 3 months after the Board has served on the owner of the flat a written demand of such contribution under section 80(1), the improvement contribution (including any interest and penalty thereon) constitutes a charge on the flat on the expiry of that period in favour of the Board.
(2) Upon the constitution of the charge on a flat under subsection (1), the Board has the power of sale and all other powers relating or incidental thereto to sell and effectually transfer the title to the flat to any purchaser as if the Board is a registered mortgagee even though the charge is not registered under the Land Titles Act 1993.
(3) Any charge on a flat constituted under subsection (1) is subject to all encumbrances registered or notified prior to the date of the constitution of the charge and to all moneys due to the Board or the Central Provident Fund Board before and after the date of the constitution of the charge under the lease of the flat.
(4) Subject to subsection (5), the Board may, by notice of sale to be served or published in the prescribed manner —(a)
declare its intention of selling, on the expiry of the period of 3 months from the date of the notice of sale, any flat which is subject to a charge constituted under subsection (1); and
(b)
if on the expiry of that period, any improvement contribution (including any interest and penalty thereon) or any part thereof has not been paid or satisfied, sell the flat.
(5) The Board must not proceed under subsection (4) to sell any flat in respect of which any improvement contribution (including any interest and penalty thereon) or any part thereof is due if there is upon the flat and liable to be seized and sold by the Board by enforcement order for seizure and sale of property any movable property belonging to the owner of the flat of a value estimated by the Board to be sufficient to realise the sum required to satisfy the unpaid improvement contribution.[23/2005]
[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
(6) Where the Board has sold any flat under subsection (4), neither the purchaser of the flat nor the Registrar of Titles need be concerned to inquire into the regularity or validity of the sale or transfer.
(7) For the purpose of registration of a transfer of any flat sold under subsection (4), the Registrar of Titles may dispense with the production of the duplicate lease of the flat or the duplicate subsidiary certificate of title in respect of the flat, as the case may be.
(8) The moneys received by the Board in exercise of its power of sale under subsection (4), after discharge of the prior encumbrances and the payment of moneys due to the Board specified in subsection (3) and all charges of any Town Council constituted under section 66 of the Town Councils Act 1988, must be held by it in trust to be applied —(a)
firstly, in payment of all costs and expenses properly incurred by it as incidental to the sale or any attempted sale, or otherwise;
(b)
secondly, in discharge of the improvement contribution and interest and penalty accrued and due to the Board at the date of the sale;
(c)
thirdly, in discharge of the conservancy and service charges and interest accrued and due to a Town Council at the date of sale;
(d)
fourthly, in payment of subsequent mortgages and charges (if any) in the order of their priority; and
(e)
the residue of such moneys so received must be paid to the person who appears from the land-register kept under the Land Titles Act 1993 to be entitled to the flat sold or to be authorised to give receipts for the proceeds of the sale of the flat.
(9) Any charge on a flat constituted under subsection (1) —(a)
continues in force until all the improvement contribution (including any interest and penalty thereon) secured by the charge have been paid; and
(b)
upon payment of the improvement contribution (including any interest and penalty thereon) and any necessary incidental expenses to the Board before it has exercised its powers of sale under subsection (4), is discharged, and the owner of the flat is entitled to a certificate of discharge executed and acknowledged by the Board as to the receipt of the payment.[65H
Recovery of payments due to Board
83. Any improvement contribution, interest and penalty payable to the Board under this Part may be recovered by the Board by an action for a debt in any court of competent authority.[65I
[33/2018]
Power of entry and compulsory acquisition
84.—(1) Any officer or person authorised by the Board may at any reasonable time, on giving 48 hours’ notice of his or her intention to the occupier and producing, if so required, some duly authenticated document showing his or her authority, enter any flat or building within a precinct for the purpose —(a)
of carrying out any upgrading works within the flat or building;
(b)
of taking any action authorised or required by this Part or any rule to be taken by the Board; or
(c)
generally, of the performance by the Board of its function under this Part or any rule.
(2) If it is shown to the satisfaction of a Magistrate’s Court on sworn information in writing that there is reasonable ground for entry into any premises for any of the purposes mentioned in subsection (1) and —(a)
that admission to the premises has been refused, or that refusal is apprehended; or
(b)
that the premises are unoccupied or the occupier is temporarily absent,
the Magistrate’s Court may by warrant authorise the Board by any authorised officer or person to enter the premises forcibly, if necessary.
(3) A warrant must not be issued unless the Magistrate’s Court is satisfied —(a)
that notice of the intention to apply for a warrant has been given to the occupier; or
(b)
that the premises are unoccupied, the occupier is temporarily absent and the case is one of urgency.
(4) Any officer or person authorised by the Board entering any premises by virtue of this section, or of a warrant issued under this section, may take with him or her such other persons as may be necessary; and on leaving any unoccupied premises which he or she has entered by virtue of such a warrant must leave them as effectually secured against trespassers as he or she found them.
(5) Any officer or person authorised by the Board entering any premises by virtue of a warrant issued under this section may do all or any of the following:(a)
break open any outer or inner door or window leading to the premises;
(b)
forcibly enter the premises and every part of the premises;
(c)
remove by force any obstruction to such entry.
(6) A warrant issued under this section continues in force until the purpose for which the entry is necessary has been satisfied.
(7) Any person who wilfully obstructs a person acting in the execution of this Part or of any rule or warrant shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine of $100 for every day during which the offence continues after conviction.
(8) After the Minister has given his or her approval under section 77(4) or (5) in relation to any upgrading works in a precinct, the Board may compulsorily acquire the whole of any particular flat in the precinct for the purpose of those upgrading works to be carried out in that precinct.
(9) Where the Board intends to exercise its powers of compulsory acquisition conferred by subsection (8), the Board must serve a written notice on the owner of the flat and all persons known or believed to be interested in claiming all or any part of the compensation to be paid for the flat (called in this section an interested person) stating the intention of the Board to acquire the flat and the compensation to be paid therefor.
(10) Any owner or interested person may, within 28 days after the service of a notice mentioned in subsection (9), submit in writing to the Board the owner’s or interested person’s objections to the compensation offered by the Board, stating precisely the grounds upon which the owner or interested person objects.
(11) The Board must consider the objection and may either disallow it or allow it either wholly or in part, and must serve on the owner or interested person by post or otherwise a written notice of its decision.
(12) Any appeal by any owner or interested person aggrieved by the decision of the Board must be made to the Minister within 28 days after the date of service of the decision on the owner or interested person, and the decision of the Minister is final.
(13) The compensation to be paid by the Board for any flat compulsorily acquired by the Board under this section is to be determined by the Board.
(14) This section does not limit or affect the powers conferred upon the Board by any other provision of this Act or under any other written law to exercise its right of forfeiture and right of re‑entry for a breach of the conditions of a lease.
(15) Sections 66, 67 and 68 apply, with the necessary modifications, to any exercise of the power of compulsory acquisition under this section.[65J
Power to make rules
85. The Minister may make rules for giving effect to the provisions of this Part and for the due administration thereof, and, in particular, for or with respect to all or any of the following matters:(a)
prescribing the manner and procedure for obtaining the opinion of owners of flats for upgrading works;
(b)
prescribing the value in votes of owners of flats, including different values in respect of general upgrading works, specified upgrading works and commercial property upgrading works, and in respect of different classes of owners;[Act 2 of 2023 wef 28/05/2025]
(c)
prescribing the manner for recovering the improvement contribution from owners of the flats and Town Councils;
(d)
prescribing the interest and penalty to be paid by any person for the late payment of any improvement contribution; and
(e)
prescribing anything that may be prescribed.[65K
Saving
86.—(1) Nothing in this Part is to be construed to affect the right of the Board to enforce any breach of covenant, condition or undertaking under any licence, lease, tenancy or mortgage or any other agreement in respect of any flat or the right of the Board to compulsorily acquire, vest or forfeit any flat under this Act.
(2) No such right of the Board is deemed prejudiced by reason only of the Board’s exercise of any power or performance of any act under this Part.[65L
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
