LAND TITLES (STRATA) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

3.25 p.m.

The Minister for Law and National Development (Mr E. W. Barker): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

As it is the intention to refer the Bill to a Select Committee, I shall only touch briefly upon the more important provisions in the Bill.

Under existing practice, what the purchaser of a flat usually obtains is a 999-year lease in a building. The freehold title in the land above which the flat is built is either retained by the vendor who imposes on each of his lessees a service charge for the maintenance of common parts and property or is conveyed in proportionate shares to the purchasers of all flats built on the land as tenants in common. Experience has shown that it is difficult for tenants to get together and problems arise when lifts break down or pipes burst. This rather unsatisfactory state of affairs has impeded the development and sale of flats in the Republic and the Bill now before the House, which is based on Australian legislation, takes account of the comments of the former Bar Committee and seeks to remove these difficulties.

The Bill introduces a strata land register under which the proprietor of registered land on which a building stands, who has obtained approval of subdivision of the building into flats from the competent authority, may apply to the Registrar of Titles for the land and the subdivided building thereon to be dealt with in lots under separate subsidiary strata certificates of title.

The Bill also spells out the rights and obligations of the purchasers of flats in a subdivided building as regards assessments, easements and restrictive covenants. The owner or owners of flats comprised in a subdivided building shown in a strata title plan lodged in the Land Titles Registry will become the management corporation of the building as soon as such strata title plan has been registered. The management corporation, consisting of all the flat owners, is made responsible for the maintenance of common parts like lifts and corridors.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

3.30 p.m.

Mr Tang See Chim: Mr Speaker, Sir, I welcome the introduction of this Bill. How to convey a flat and give the purchaser legal title has long been exercising the ingenuity of legal practitioners. As you yourself know, Mr Speaker, Sir, in common law the legal owner of land owns also the air space above the land. He also owns any permanent structure built upon the land. Ti is, therefore, difficult in common law to give legal title to the purchaser of a flat which occupies only some air space above a plot of land. There is no way of giving him legal title to that air space. Common law does not provide for that.

Conveyancing lawyers have devised ways and means of overcoming this problem. To a large extent, they have been successful and flats have been bought and sold. But, as the Minister has just pointed out, because of certain common parts that are relative to the flats, the ownership of which is not anybody's, the maintenance of these common parts has generally not been taken care of. Consequently this is one of the discouragements for flat owners. There is the further discouragement that there is always the nagging doubt that the purchaser may not get a perfect title to the flat, especially when disaster happens and the flat is destroyed. This doubt, I think, can be clearly seen in the reluctance of building societies and insurance companies to finance the buying of flats, although these finance organisations are quite willing to finance the buying of other forms of landed property.

Mr Speaker, Sir, flat dwelling is a phenomenon of our modern over-crowded cities. Most modern cities are experiencing a grave shortage of land. This is especially true of Singapore where the total land area is less than 250 square miles. We, therefore, build upwards instead of sideways.

The law on land, however, has not kept pace with modern development. We have inherited a law which was made at a time when land was plentiful and there was neither the economic nor the social pressure to build flats. This pressure, however, is present in Singapore to a tremendous extent. Space is at a premium, and for the better utilisation of space we in Singapore not only build flats for dwelling purposes (with which this Bill is mainly concerned), hut we also have schools in multi-storey structures. We have multi-storey car parks and flatted factories. I remember during an adjournment debate not so long ago on the resettlement of farmers, the Minister of Defence even suggested that the Government should consider flatted structures for the rearing of pigs.

Mr Speaker: Poultry, Mr Tang!

Mr Tang See Chim: Poultry and pigs, Mr Speaker, Sir. From this we can see how tremendous the pressure is on us. I recall a very expressive Chinese saving, Mr Speaker. Sir, and with your permission may I say it in Chinese? Chun jin che tu. It means an inch of gold for a foot of land. This precisely expresses the situation that is prevailing in Singapore.

This Bill is therefore timely, it fills the gap in the land laws regarding the registration of titles to flats and, in so doing, it also facilitates the financing of flat purchasing.

The referring of this Bill to a Select Committee where its detailed provisions can be further explored and interested bodies are enabled to make representations, is also welcomed.

Sir, I support the Bill.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time.

Resolved, "That the Bill be committed to a Select Committee consisting of Mr Speaker as Chairman and seven Members to be nominated by the Committee of Selection." - [Mr Barker]