Land Acquisition Act 1966

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“assessor” means a member of the panel of assessors appointed under section 26(2);

“Board” means an Appeals Board constituted under section 19(1);

“Collector” has the meaning given by the Land Revenue Collection Act 1940;

“Commissioner” means a Commissioner of Appeals or a Deputy Commissioner of Appeals, appointed under section 19(2), and includes an acting Commissioner of Appeals or acting Deputy Commissioner of Appeals;

“common property” and “lot” have the respective meanings given by the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967;

“land” includes any airspace, subterranean space, foreshore, and benefits to arise out of land and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth;

“management corporation”, in relation to any land comprised in a strata title plan, means the management corporation constituted in respect of that strata title plan under the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967;

“non‑lot acquisition” means an acquisition under this Act of any common property (and no other land) comprised in a strata title plan;

“person interested” includes every person claiming an interest in compensation to be made on account of the acquisition of land under this Act, but does not include a tenant by the month or at will;

“remaining surface land” means any land (and airspace) above which only the airspace, or any land (and subsoil) below which only the subterranean space, is or has been acquired under this Act;

“severed land”, for an owner of land, means any land remaining after any other part of the owner’s land is severed because of an acquisition under this Act;

“State title” means any grant, any grant in fee simple or estate in perpetuity, or any State lease (of whatever tenure) whenever issued or granted by or on behalf of the Crown, the State or the East India Company;

“strata title plan” and “subsidiary proprietor” have the respective meanings given by the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967;

“subterranean space” means the subsoil below the surface of the earth;

“temporarily occupied land” means any land temporary possession of which is or has been taken in accordance with a direction under section 42.

For the purposes of this Act, the following persons are deemed persons “entitled to act” as and to the extent provided:

Despite subsection (2)(h) and sections 34 and 35 of the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act 2004, a management corporation for a strata title plan is deemed for the purposes of this Act, competent to receive the compensation money payable under this Act for any non‑lot acquisition relating to that strata title plan.

Whenever it appears to the President that land in any locality is likely to be needed for any purpose specified in section 5(1), a notification to that effect must be published in the Gazette and the Collector must cause public notice of the substance of the notification to be given at convenient places in that locality, and thereupon any officer either generally or specially authorised by the Minister in that behalf and any person authorised in writing by that officer may —

A person must not enter into any building or upon any enclosed court or garden attached to a dwelling house unless with the consent of the occupier thereof, without previously giving the occupier at least 7 days’ notice in writing of his or her intention to do so.

A notification made under this section in respect of any land in any locality ceases to have effect on the expiration of 12 months from the date of its publication but nothing in this subsection is to be construed to preclude a further exercise of the powers conferred upon the President by this section or by section 5 in respect of such land.

Where any damage is done in an entry made under section 3 by any act of the officer authorised under that section or person authorised in writing by that officer, compensation must be paid as soon as conveniently may be after such entry and in case of dispute as to the amount of such compensation, the amount must be determined by the Collector.

An appeal lies from the determination of the Collector under this section to the Minister whose decision is final.

Whenever any particular land is needed —

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the President may under that subsection declare that only so much of airspace above the surface of any land, or only so much of subterranean space below the surface of any land, is needed for any purpose specified in that subsection, instead of the whole of the land.

A notification under subsection (1) must state —

The notification is conclusive evidence that the land is needed for the purpose specified therein as provided in subsection (1).

Where less than the whole of any land in which a person is interested is to be acquired, and there is no plan sufficient to identify the part of the land to be acquired from the records of the Registry of Deeds or the Land Titles Registry of the Singapore Land Authority, the Collector must, so far as is practicable, prepare a plan that is sufficient to identify the part of the land to be acquired from the records of the Registry of Deeds or the Land Titles Registry, as the case may be.

Subsection (1) does not apply if the part of the land to be acquired has already been marked out under section 3.

The Collector must then cause a notice to be published in at least 4 daily local newspapers circulating in Singapore, one each in each of the 4 official languages, stating —

The Collector must also serve notice to the same effect on —

Every notice published under subsection (1) or served under subsection (2) —

The Collector may, in any case, require any statement under subsection (3) to be made in writing and signed by the party or his or her agent.

In a non-lot acquisition relating to a strata title plan, only the management corporation constituted for that strata title plan, and no other person, is entitled to make a claim for compensation pursuant to a notice published under subsection (1) or served under subsection (2) in relation to the non‑lot acquisition, and it is lawful for the Collector to reject any claim for compensation as a result of that non‑lot acquisition made by —

The Collector may also require any such person to deliver to him or her within a time to be specified, being at least 15 days, a written statement containing, so far as may be practicable, the name of every other person possessing any interest in the land or any part thereof as co-owner, mortgagee, lessee, sublessee, tenant or otherwise, and of the nature of that interest, and of the rents and profits (if any) received or receivable on account thereof for 3 years next preceding the date of the statement and, where any claim to compensation is made by a management corporation, the resolution required under section 85A(2) of the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act 2004 to authorise the management corporation to make that claim and any special resolution mentioned in section 85A(4) of that Act.

Every person required to make or deliver a statement under section 8 or this section is deemed to be legally bound to do so within the meaning of sections 175 and 176 of the Penal Code 1871.

On the day so fixed, or on any other day to which the inquiry has been adjourned, the Collector must proceed to inquire into the objections (if any) which any person interested has stated, pursuant to a notice published under section 8(1) or served under section 8(2), to any plan prepared under section 7 (if any) and into the value of the land and into the respective interests of the persons claiming the compensation, and must, as soon as possible after the conclusion of the inquiry, make an award under his or her hand of —

Despite subsection (1)(c), the compensation awarded for a non‑lot acquisition relating to any strata title plan under this Act must not be apportioned among the subsidiary proprietors constituting the management corporation for that strata title plan but must be awarded to the management corporation unless subsection (1B) applies.

Where the subsidiary proprietors constituting the management corporation for a strata title plan so agree by a special resolution mentioned in section 85A(4) of the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act 2004, the compensation awarded under subsection (1) for a non‑lot acquisition relating to that strata title plan must be apportioned —

The Collector may at any time refer to the General Division of the High Court for its determination any question as to —

Without prejudice to the powers of the General Division of the High Court, the costs of any reference under subsection (2) must be borne by such persons as the General Division of the High Court may direct or, in the absence of any such direction, by the Collector.

Where the Collector who has proceeded under this section to inquire into the objections of any person interested ceases for any reason to hold office as Collector at any time before the making of an award under this section, any other officer who is a Collector may in his discretion continue the inquiry or hold a fresh inquiry. For the purpose of this subsection, the Collector who continues the inquiry of a Collector who has ceased to hold office may act on the evidence recorded by the latter.

Where a Collector who has made an award under this section ceases for any reason to hold office as a Collector before lodging his or her grounds of award under section 23, any other officer who is a Collector may, if the notice of appeal is lodged under section 23, lodge such grounds of award on behalf of the Collector who has ceased to hold office.

The Collector’s award must be filed in his or her office and, except as hereinafter provided, is final and conclusive evidence as between the Collector and the persons interested, whether they have respectively appeared before the Collector or not, of the area and value of the land and the apportionment of the compensation among the persons interested.

The Collector must serve a copy of his or her award on all persons interested provided that their addresses can be ascertained after reasonable inquiry when the award is made.

For the purpose of inquiries under this Act, the Collector has power to summon and enforce the attendance of witnesses, including the parties interested or any of them, and to compel the production of documents by the same means, and, so far as may be, in the same manner, as is provided in the case of a court under the Rules of Court for the time being in force.

The Collector has, in particular, power to compel the production of any resolution by the subsidiary proprietors constituting the management corporation for a strata title plan where that is relevant to the making of any award of compensation for the acquisition under this Act of any property comprised in the strata title plan.

In cases of urgency, whenever the Minister directs him or her to do so, the Collector, though no such award had been made, may on the expiration of 7 days from the later of the date of the notice published under section 8(1) or the date of the notice served under section 8(2), take possession of any land needed for any of the purposes specified in section 5(1).

The Minister may direct the Collector to take immediate possession of any land which is intended to be acquired under the provisions of this Act without the publication of a notification under section 5(1); but that notification must be published not later than 7 days after the Collector has taken possession of the land.

For the purpose of hearing appeals in respect of any award made by the Collector under this Act, there are constituted one or more Appeals Boards consisting of a Commissioner of Appeals or a Deputy Commissioner of Appeals, either sitting alone or with 2 assessors in the manner provided by section 26.

The Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner must be appointed by the President, and a person is not eligible to be appointed or to remain a Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner if the person —

The Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner hold office for a period of 2 years from the date of their appointments and are eligible for reappointment.

The Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner are deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code 1871, and enjoy the same judicial immunity as is enjoyed by a Supreme Court Judge.

The President may at any time revoke the appointments of the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner.

The Minister may make regulations —

All regulations made under this section must be published in the Gazette and must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication.

Any person interested, who is aggrieved by an award made under section 10, may appeal to the Board by —

Despite anything in this section, in a non‑lot acquisition relating to a strata title plan, only the management corporation constituted for the strata title plan is entitled to lodge with the Registrar a notice of appeal or petition of appeal in accordance with subsection (1) in respect of that non‑lot acquisition, and there shall be no such appeal by —

On receipt of a notice of appeal, the Registrar must forthwith forward one copy thereof to the Collector. The Collector must thereupon lodge with the Registrar the Collector’s grounds of award and a copy of those grounds must be served by the Registrar upon the appellant by delivering or tendering the copy to the appellant or sending it to the appellant by registered post.

The Board may, in its discretion and on such terms as it may see fit, permit any person to proceed with an appeal even though the notice of appeal or petition of appeal was not lodged, or the deposit with the Accountant-General, if not waived by the Collector, was not made or authorised, within the time limited therefor by this section, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Board that the person was prevented from lodging the notice or petition, or from making or authorising such deposit, in due time owing to absence from Singapore, sickness or other reasonable cause and that there has been no unreasonable delay on the part of that person.

Except with the consent of the Board and on such terms as the Board may determine, an appellant may not at the hearing of the appellant’s appeal rely on any grounds of appeal other than the grounds stated in the appellant’s petition of appeal.

On receipt of a petition of appeal, the Registrar must forthwith forward one copy thereof to the Collector and must, as soon as possible thereafter, fix a time and place for the hearing of the appeal and must give 14 days’ notice thereof both to the appellant and to the Collector.

The appellant and the Collector must attend, either in person or by an advocate and solicitor, at such times and places as may be fixed for the hearing of the appeal:Provided that if it is proved to the satisfaction of the Board that, owing to absence from Singapore, sickness or other reasonable cause, any person is prevented from so attending, the Board may postpone the hearing of the appeal for such reasonable time as it thinks necessary.

The onus of proving that the award is inadequate is on the appellant.

The Board has the following powers:

Every person examined as a witness by or before the Board, whether on oath or otherwise, is legally bound to state the truth and to produce such books, papers or documents as the Board may require.

For the purpose of determining appeals in respect of any award made by the Collector under this Act, in any case where the appeal is against an award of —

For the purpose of enabling the Board to be constituted under subsection (1), there must be a panel of assessors (called in this Act the panel), the members of which are appointed by the Minister. The panel consists of such number of persons as the Minister may think fit, and the name of every person appointed to the panel must be published in the Gazette.

A person is not eligible to be appointed or to remain a member of the panel if the person —

A person appointed to the panel is, except where his or her appointment is revoked by the Minister under subsection (6), a member of the panel, unless he or she resigns during the period of the appointment, for a period of 2 years or for such shorter period as the Minister may in any case determine, but is eligible for reappointment.

Where a person ceases to be a member of the panel the Minister must, as soon as is reasonably practicable, take steps to fill the vacancy, but the existence of any vacancy in the panel does not invalidate the acts of the Board.

The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of a member of the panel.

The members of the panel are to be paid such salaries, fees and allowances as the Minister may determine.

Where the Board is constituted otherwise than by the Commissioner alone, the Commissioner is not bound by the advice or opinion of the other members of the Board.

A decision of the Board must be signed by the Commissioner and must be delivered by the Commissioner or by the Registrar on the direction of the Commissioner.

The Board may, after hearing an appeal confirm, reduce, increase or annul the award or make such order thereon as to it may seem fit.

Every member of the panel, when and so long as he or she is serving on the Board, is deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code 1871 and enjoys the same judicial immunity as is enjoyed by a Supreme Court Judge.

All proceedings in appeals to the Board under this Act are deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of the Penal Code 1871.

Subject to this section, a decision of the Board is final.

In any case in which the award, as determined by the Board (excluding the amount of any costs awarded) exceeds $5,000, the appellant or the Collector may appeal to the Court of Appeal from the decision of the Board upon any question of law.

Despite subsection (2), in a non‑lot acquisition relating to a strata title plan, only the management corporation constituted for the strata title plan is entitled to make an appeal to the Court of Appeal under subsection (2) in respect of that non‑lot acquisition, and there shall be no such appeal by —

The procedure governing such appeals to the Court of Appeal and costs relating to such appeals are the same as for appeals to the Court of Appeal from decisions of the General Division of the High Court.

The Court of Appeal is to hear and determine any such appeal and may confirm, reduce, increase or annul the award determined by the Board and make such further or other order on the appeal, whether as to costs or otherwise, as to the Court may seem fit.

There is no further right of appeal from decisions of the Court of Appeal under this section.

The Board may at any time and in regard to any appeal, with or without proceeding to the determination of the appeal, state a case on a question of law for the opinion of the Court of Appeal.

A stated case must —

The Registrar must transmit the case, when it is set out and signed in accordance with subsection (2), to the Court of Appeal, and must forward a copy thereof to the appellant and to the Collector.

The Court of Appeal may cause a stated case to be sent back for amendment and thereupon the case must be amended accordingly.

In considering any stated case, the Court of Appeal is to afford opportunity for argument thereon to be put forward by or on behalf of the appellant and the Collector.

The Court of Appeal is to hear and determine any question of law arising on a stated case and may, in accordance with its decision thereon, confirm, reduce, increase or annul any award determined by the Board in the appeal, or may remit the case to the Board with the opinion of the Court of Appeal thereon. Where a case is so remitted by the Court of Appeal, the Board is bound by the opinion of the Court of Appeal and must give effect thereto by its decision in the appeal or (as the case may be) by revising any previous decision made by it in the appeal to the extent (if any) to which its previous decision does not accord with the opinion of the Court of Appeal.

Where the amount awarded by the Board does not exceed the sum awarded by the Collector, or where an appeal is withdrawn without any agreement being made by the parties thereto as to costs, the costs of an appeal to the Board in either case must be paid by the appellant.

Subject to subsections (3) and (4), where the amount awarded by the Board exceeds the sum awarded by the Collector, the costs must be paid by the Collector.

Where the Board is of the opinion that the claim of the appellant was so excessive or that the appellant was so negligent in putting the appellant’s case before the Collector that some deduction from the appellant’s costs should be made or that the appellant should pay part of the Collector’s costs, the Board may make such order as to costs, as it may think fit.

In relation to any proceedings before it, the Board may order a vexatious third party —

No order under subsection (3A) may be made against any person unless that person has been given a reasonable opportunity to appear before the Board and show cause why the order should not be made.

In subsection (3A), “vexatious third party”, in relation to any proceedings before the Board, means a person —

If the claim of the appellant exceeds the amount awarded by 20% or more, the appellant is not entitled to the appellant’s costs.

Any costs directed by the Board or by this section to be paid are, unless the Board otherwise directs, taxable in the General Division of the High Court.

The costs (if any) payable by the appellant, the Collector or person who is not a party may be recovered as if they were costs in a suit in the General Division of the High Court and as if the award of the Board were the decree therein.

In determining the amount of compensation to be awarded for land acquired under this Act, the Board must take into consideration the following matters and no others:

However, where only airspace above the surface of any land, or only subterranean space below the surface of any land, is acquired, then despite subsection (1), the Board must take into consideration the following matters, and no others, in determining the compensation to be awarded for the airspace or subterranean space acquired:

If the value of any other land of the person interested likely to accrue from the use to which the land acquired will be put is increased, the increase is to be set off only against the amount of compensation that would otherwise be payable under subsection (1)(c) or (d) or both, or subsection (1A)(c) or (d) or both, where applicable.

[Deleted by Act 19 of 2007]

[Deleted by Act 19 of 2007]

For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) or (1A)(a) —

For the purposes of this section, the date of acquisition of any land is the date of the publication of the notification under section 5(1) declaring that that land is needed for the purpose specified in the declaration.

Where the applicant has made a claim to compensation pursuant to any notice published under section 8(1) or served under section 8(2), the amount awarded to the applicant must not exceed the amount so claimed or be less than the amount awarded by the Collector under section 10.

Where the applicant has refused to make such a claim or has omitted without sufficient reason, to be allowed by the Board, to make such a claim, the amount awarded by the Board may be less than and must in no case exceed the amount awarded by the Collector.

Where the applicant has omitted for a sufficient reason, to be allowed by the Board, to make such a claim, the amount awarded to the applicant by the Board may be less than or may exceed the amount awarded by the Collector.

When the amount of the compensation has been settled and there is any dispute as to the apportionment thereof, the Commissioner sitting alone may decide the proportions in which the persons interested are entitled to share in the amount.

An appeal shall lie from that decision to the Court of Appeal whose decision is final.

The procedure governing such appeals to the Court of Appeal is the same as for appeals to the Court of Appeal from decisions of the General Division of the High Court in civil matters.

The Minister may, after consulting the Chief Justice, by order in the Gazette, determine that appeals under section 29(2) are to be made to the Appellate Division of the High Court, instead of the Court of Appeal.

The Minister may, after consulting the Chief Justice, by order in the Gazette, determine that appeals under section 38(2) are to lie to the Appellate Division of the High Court, instead of the Court of Appeal.

Where an order under section 39A(1) is in force —

Where an order under section 39A(2) is in force —

On making an award under section 10, the Collector must make a written offer of the compensation awarded by him or her to the persons interested entitled thereto according to the award, and must pay it to them unless prevented by one or more of the contingencies mentioned in subsection (2) or subsection (1A) applies.

If —

If they do not consent to receive it, or if there is no person competent to alienate the land, or if there is any dispute as to the title to receive the compensation or as to the apportionment of it, or if possession of the land has not been taken by the Collector, the Collector must apply to the Registrar of the Supreme Court ex parte for an order to deposit the amount of the compensation in court, and, despite anything to the contrary in the Rules of Court for the time being in force, the Registrar may make such an order except that any person admitted to be interested may receive such payment under protest as to the sufficiency of the amount.

Despite subsection (1), no person who has received the amount otherwise than under protest is entitled to appeal to the Board under section 23.

Nothing in this section affects the liability of any person, who may receive the whole or any part of any compensation awarded under this Act, to pay it to the person lawfully entitled to it.

Despite anything in this section, the Collector, instead of awarding a money compensation in respect of any land, may enter into any arrangement with a person having a limited interest therein in such a way as may be equitable having regard to the interests of the parties concerned.

Where it appears to the President that any land that is not State land is required for temporary occupation and use for a public purpose, the President may direct the Collector to procure the temporary occupation and use of that land, for such term or terms as may be determined, ordinarily not exceeding a total of 3 continuous years from the start of the occupation.

Upon the direction of the President under subsection (1) to procure the temporary occupation and use of any land that is not State land, the Collector or any person authorised by the Collector has the right to enter upon and take temporary possession of that land in accordance with the terms of that direction.

However, the Collector or a person authorised by the Collector is not to exercise any right conferred by subsection (2) in respect of any land unless the Collector has given at least one month’s notice of the Collector’s intention to exercise that right to the persons interested in the land, and to every occupier of that land.

A notice referred to in subsection (3) must —

To avoid doubt, a notice under subsection (3) is to be given for each term determined under subsection (1) that land is to be entered upon and taken temporary possession of in accordance with a direction under subsection (1).

The ownership of anything is not altered by reason only that it is placed in, under, over or affixed to any land in exercise of a right conferred upon the Collector by this section.

Unless section 49A(1) applies, the Collector must return all temporarily occupied land to the persons interested no later than —

In this section, a reference to entry on land includes —

Subject to sections 44 and 44A, every person interested in temporarily occupied land is entitled to claim compensation for the items of loss, damage or cost set out in the first column of the Schedule to the extent of the loss, damage or cost suffered or incurred by the person interested.

A claim for compensation for an item of loss, damage or cost set out in the first column of the Schedule is to be assessed by the Collector —

No account is to be taken of the following in the assessment of any claim for compensation by any person interested in temporarily occupied land:

Upon receiving a claim for compensation from any person interested in temporarily occupied land, the Collector is to inquire into that claim and must, as soon as is possible —

To avoid doubt, nothing in this section prevents the Collector from restoring the temporarily occupied land to the reasonable satisfaction of the persons interested in the land before returning the land to the persons interested, in lieu of compensation for any item of loss, damage or cost set out in the first column of the Schedule.

Every claim for compensation under this Part must be in writing.

Subject to subsection (4), if a claim for compensation for an item of loss, damage or cost set out in the first column of the Schedule is not served on the Collector before the expiry of the period specified in subsection (3) for that item, the right to claim compensation for that item is barred and any late claim may be disregarded.

The period within which a claim for compensation for an item of loss, damage or cost set out in the first column of the Schedule must be served upon the Collector is as follows:

The Board may extend any period specified in subsection (3) within which a claim must be served upon the Collector if an application for the extension is made to the Board, either before or after the expiry of that period, and the Board considers —

An extension may be granted by the Board under subsection (4) with or without conditions, and for such period as the Board thinks fit, but in no case exceeding 6 years from the time when the right to compensation first arose.

Any person interested who is aggrieved by an award of compensation made under section 43(4)(a) (called in this section the appellant) may appeal to the Board —

After a notice of appeal under subsection (1) is lodged, the following steps must be taken:

The decision of the Board on appeal is final.

In determining the amount of compensation for an item of loss, damage or cost set out in the first column of the Schedule, the Board —

Sections 23(3) and (4), 24, 25, 26, 27, 31 and 32 apply (so far as relevant) to an appeal under this section with such prescribed exceptions, modifications and adaptations as the differences between an appeal under this section and an appeal under section 23 require.

A notice or other document required or authorised by this Act to be served on any person may be served —

If the Collector is unable after due inquiry to ascertain the whereabouts of any person on whom a notice or other document is required by this Act to be served, the notice or document may be given or served —

Where any notice or other document is —

This section does not apply to notices and documents required to be served in proceedings in court.

Any person who —

A court that finds a person guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(b) may, in addition to any penalty it imposes, order the person to pay compensation, totalling not more than 3 times the cost of replacing and repairing the trench or mark and of making any survey rendered necessary by the act for which the person was convicted.

The amount mentioned in subsection (1) is to be levied in the manner provided by the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 for the collection of fines.

Except in the case provided for in sections 49 and 49A, the Government is at liberty to withdraw from the acquisition of any land or any part thereof of which possession has not been taken.