SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Dorothy Marie Ng, Monica Yip, Tay Peng Cheng and Tan Shao Tong, WongPartnership LLP
sale and purchase or a lessee’s rights under an agreement for lease). 2.2 Laws Applicable to Transfer of Title For the transfer of title of registered land, the transaction must be effected in a form pre - scribed under the Land Titles Act 1993 and reg - istered with the Land Registry. Under the Residential Property Act 1976, there are restrictions on foreign ownership of vacant land or landed residential property. Except for landed homes in Sentosa Cove (situated on Sentosa Island), where ownership by foreigners (who are not Singapore permanent residents) is generally allowed with approval, any purchase of landed residential property by a person who is not a Singapore citizen (including a Singapore permanent resident) is subject to the approval of the government. Subject to certain rules and conditions, foreign developers may acquire land - ed residential property to develop for sale. There is generally no law against a foreigner purchas - ing Singapore commercial property but, with effect from 20 July 2023, foreigners who intend to purchase land zoned as or property permitted for “Commercial & Residential” use may only do so with the approval of the government. 2.3 Effecting Lawful and Proper Transfer of Title As noted in 2.2 Laws Applicable to Transfer of Title , transfers of title to registered land are effected by way of the registration of transfer instruments with the Land Registry. All transfers of registered land are recorded in the Land Reg - ister, administered by the Registrar of Titles. Title insurance is not common in Singapore, although in recent years it has been relied on in a number of transactions.
As safe management measures put in place for the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted, there are now no prohibitions against physical meet - ings. Accordingly, the completion of documenta - tion and the closing of real estate transactions have not been hampered. 2.4 Real Estate Due Diligence Buyers usually carry out title searches, which can be conducted online. Where the land is unregistered, title must be deduced by inspec - tion of the title documents. Buyers of large build - ings will typically carry out a building audit and a technical inspection of the real estate (either internally or by the appointment of consultants) to ascertain the state, condition and structural soundness of the buildings, and encroachment surveys on the land. For industrial land, it is not uncommon for the buyer to carry out (or in some cases require the seller to carry out) an environ - mental study to determine whether there are any environmental contaminants on the land. Buyers also carry out legal requisition searches with various government agencies and statutory bodies, which may reveal matters that affect the real estate (eg, notices of government action against the property, roads, drainage lines, reserves, railway lines or schemes, zoning and approved use). Buyers will usually review sellers’ documents relating to, inter alia, title, tenancy information (if applicable), services contracts and building warranties. 2.5 Typical Representations and Warranties There is no legislation specifically requiring the provision of seller’s warranties. Real estate is traditionally sold on an “as-is-where-is” basis – ie, the seller does not generally provide any
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