Lease Agreements for Retail Premises Act 2023

• Act Code: LARPA2023
• Version as at: 4 Jul 2026
• Enacted by: Parliament

Section 1 — Short title and commencement

This Act is the Lease Agreements for Retail Premises Act 2023 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette.

Section 2 — General interpretation

(1) In this Act —“adjudicator” means an adjudicator on the panel of adjudicators; “applicant”, in relation to a complaint of non‑compliance, means the party that files the complaint with an authorised dispute resolution body; “authorised di

Section 3 — Appointment of Fair Tenancy Industry Committee

(1) The Minister may appoint a Fair Tenancy Industry Committee comprising —(a) a Chairperson; and (b) any other members that the Minister may determine. (2) The members must comprise —(a) individuals who in the Minister’s view represent the

Section 4 — Functions of Committee

(1) The Committee has the following functions:(a) to review and, with the Minister’s approval, modify the Code of Conduct from time to time; (b) to monitor and promote compliance by landlords and tenants with this Act and the Code of Conduc

Section 5 — Code of Conduct

(1) For the purposes of this Act, the Code of Conduct is the Code of Conduct for Leasing of Retail Premises in Singapore (first issued by the Fair Tenancy Pro Tem Committee on 26 March 2021 and subsequently modified by that Committee), as m

Section 6 — Compliance with leasing principles in Code of Conduct

(1) The landlord and the tenant of a qualifying lease must ensure that the lease agreement for that qualifying lease complies with the leasing principles in force at the time the lease agreement is signed by the landlord and the tenant.(2)

Section 7 — Register of declarations of permitted deviations

The Committee must maintain —(a) a register of declarations of permitted deviations submitted to it under this Act; and (b) the record of a declaration of permitted deviation in the register for at least 5 years after the submission of the

Section 8 — Restrictions on disclosure of information concerning or contained in declarations of permitted deviations

The Committee and the secretariat must not disclose any information concerning or contained in a declaration of permitted deviation for any qualifying lease to any other person, except —(a) with the consent of the persons to whom the inform

Section 9 — Complaints of non-compliance

(1) A landlord or a tenant under a qualifying lease may file with an authorised dispute resolution body a complaint that there has been a non‑compliance with a leasing principle in relation to their lease agreement.(2) The complaint of non-

Section 10 — Authorised dispute resolution body, etc.

(1) The Minister may —(a) authorise any person to be an authorised dispute resolution body for the purposes of this Part, subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister thinks fit; and (b) withdraw any such authorisation. (2) An auth

Section 11 — Reference of complaint of non-compliance to mediator

(1) On receipt of a complaint of non‑compliance, the authorised dispute resolution body must appoint a mediator from its panel of mediators —(a) to mediate between the parties; and (b) to assist the parties to settle the dispute or disputes

Section 12 — Reference of complaint of non-compliance to adjudicator

(1) If the mediation under section 11 does not result in a settlement agreement between the parties on a dispute, the party that filed the complaint of non‑compliance may apply to the authorised dispute resolution body for an adjudicator fr

Section 13 — Stay of court proceedings

(1) Where there are any proceedings before a court in respect of any matter which is the subject of a complaint of non‑compliance, any party may apply to that court to stay the proceedings so far as the proceedings relate to that matter.(2)

Section 14 — Fees of adjudication proceedings

Where any provision in the schedule of fees mentioned in section 10(2)(e) requires a party (A) to pay any fees to the authorised dispute resolution body, an adjudicator may determine that another party (B) must pay to A an amount representi

Section 15 — Protection from liability for mediators, adjudicators and authorised dispute resolution bodies

(1) No liability shall lie against a mediator or an adjudicator with respect to anything done or omitted to be done in good faith in the discharge or purported discharge of the mediator’s or adjudicator’s functions or duties under this Act.

Section 16 — Interpretation of this Division and application

(1) In this Division —“adjudication communication”, in relation to an adjudication, means —(a) anything said or done; (b) any document prepared; or (c) any information provided, for the purposes of or in the course of an adjudication, inclu

Section 17 — Restrictions on disclosure of mediation communication

(1) Subject to section 18, a person must not disclose any mediation communication to a third party to the mediation.(2) Without affecting subsection (1), where a complaint of non‑compliance that has been referred to a mediator under section

Section 18 — Permitted disclosures of mediation communication

(1) Despite section 17(1) but subject to section 17(2), a person may disclose a mediation communication to a third party to the mediation if —(a) the disclosure is made with the consent of —(i) all the parties to the mediation; and (ii) for

Section 19 — Admissibility in evidence of mediation communication

A mediation communication is not to be admitted in evidence in any court, arbitral or disciplinary proceedings except with the permission of a court or an arbitral tribunal under section 20.

Section 20 — Permission of court or arbitral tribunal for disclosure or admission in evidence of mediation communication

(1) A court or an arbitral tribunal may, on application by any person, grant permission for a mediation communication to be disclosed under section 18(2) or admitted in evidence under section 19.(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the c

Section 21 — Restrictions on disclosure of adjudication communication

(1) Subject to section 22, a person must not disclose any adjudication communication to a third party to the adjudication.(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any part of a settlement agreement entered into in the course of an adjudication

Section 22 — Permitted disclosures of adjudication communication

Despite section 21(1), a person may disclose an adjudication communication to a third party to the adjudication —(a) if the disclosure is made with the consent of —(i) all the parties to the adjudication; and (ii) for an adjudication commun

Section 23 — Settlement agreements in mediation

(1) The parties must set out their settlement of any dispute resulting from mediation, in a settlement agreement in writing.(2) Where, by any part of the settlement agreement, the parties have agreed to vary the lease agreement that was the

Section 24 — Settlement agreements in adjudication

(1) At any time before an adjudicator determines any dispute, the parties may settle the dispute, and set out their settlement in a settlement agreement in writing.(2) Where, by any part of the settlement agreement, the parties have agreed

Section 25 — Determinations in adjudication

(1) Subject to section 12(3) and to any rules and procedures established by the authorised dispute resolution body under section 10(2)(c) (being rules and procedures not inconsistent with any requirement under this Act), an adjudicator may

Section 26 — Enforcement of settlement agreements

(1) Any party to a settlement agreement mentioned in section 23 or 24 may, in relation to a dispute in respect of which the settlement agreement was entered into and for which no proceedings have been commenced in a court, with the consent

Section 27 — Enforcement of determinations by adjudicators

(1) Any determination of an adjudicator under section 14 or 25(4) (called in this section the adjudication determination) may, with the permission of the court within whose jurisdiction the subject matter of the dispute that is the subject

Section 28 — Effect on other proceedings

(1) Nothing in this Act prevents any party from challenging the party’s lease agreement (including as varied pursuant to this Act) as to whether or not the lease agreement complies with this Act, or any determination under section 25(4), in

Section 29 — Act to bind Government

(1) This Act binds the Government.(2) Despite subsection (1), the Government is not required to comply with any obligation under this Act that is inconsistent with any obligation of the Government under any other written law. —(1) This Act

Section 30 — Publication of non-compliance with Act or Code of Conduct

The Committee may publish any details of non‑compliance with this Act or the Code of Conduct, obtained by the Committee under or pursuant to this Act, as the Committee thinks necessary or expedient in the interest of landlords and tenants o

Section 31 — Amendment of Schedules

The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, amend the First or Second Schedule.

Section 32 — General exemption

The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, either permanently or for any period that the Minister thinks fit, exempt any person or premises or any class of persons or premises from all or any of the provisions of this Act, subject to any co

Section 33 — Rules of Court

(1) The Rules Committee constituted under section 80(3) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 may make Rules of Court regulating the practice and procedure of the Court of Appeal, the Appellate and General Divisions of the High Court

Section 34 — Regulations

(1) The Minister may make regulations as may be necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.(2) Without affecting subsection (1), the regulations may make provision in respect of —(a) the procedure

Section 35 — Saving and transitional provisions

(1) Despite the definition of “qualifying lease” in section 2(1) read with section 2(5), this Act does not apply to an extension or a renewal of a lease (whether or not the extension or renewal is by virtue of the exercise of an option to e