What Should Foreigners Do If They Wish To Buy Houses In Singapore?
Posted by | Posted in Traffic For Websites | Posted on 09-03-2010
Foreigners may discover renting a hotel room for the entire duration of their stay in Singapore to be a very expensive quandary. An answer to this costly quandary is owning a residential property in the city-state.
Singapore authorities do not prevent expatriates from acquiring residential properties in the country.
Basically, the Residential Property Act of Singapore empowers Singapore citizens to buy residential properties in the city-state at affordable rates. Also, the Act supports foreigners who have given an important contribution to Singapore’s economy to acquire residential properties in the country.
Non-restricted residential properties can be purchased by foreigners even without prior sanction from the Singapore government. Non-restricted residential properties are described as any of the following:
- apartment flats within a structure that is not higher than six levels – condo units in approved condo development properties included in the Planning Act – a lease term on a restricted residential property; the term must not go beyond 7 years
An approval from Singapore’s Minister of Law is needed by foreign nationals who wish to own all units in an apartment or condo in an approved development property.
Likewise, a foreigner cannot buy or own residential properties that are categorized as restricted not unless he or she has been given an approval by Singapore’s Minister for Law to purchase any such residential property.
Under the Residential Property Act of Singapore, the following are categorized as restricted residential properties:
- a vacant residential land – town houses, detached or semi-linked homes, or terraced houses standing on residential lands – lots not approved for condominium development under the Planning Act
In applying for an official sanction to be able to purchase a restricted residential property, the foreign national must fill out a form and, along with the required supporting papers, send this to the Singapore Land Authority. The bureau is accountable for evaluating the foreign national’s merits to acquire a restricted residential property and for issuing the official sanction if it finds the expat’s qualifications satisfactory.
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