Checks on Commercial Properties to Prevent Unauthorised Business Usage

Mr Don Wee asked the Minister for National Development (a) how often does URA conduct checks to ensure that commercial properties are used according to their authorised business use; (b) how many violations had there been in each of the last three years for unauthorised business use; and (c) how will the Ministry strengthen its enforcement against such violations.

Mr Desmond Lee: The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) investigates potential infringements involving commercial properties based on public tip-offs and regular checks. Where infringements are detected, enforcement action is taken against both the occupiers and owners of the properties.

The number of violations that URA detected and took enforcement action against for unauthorised commercial uses from 2020 to 2023 is shown in Table 1 below.