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Approval for residential development on land deemed non‑residential

Residential Property Act 1976

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—(1) Where any foreign person is the owner of any vacant land (whether or not with a vacant or disused building or structure thereon) which has been —(a)zoned for any of the purposes declared to be industrial, commercial or non‑residential by the Minister under paragraph (h) of the definition of “residential property” in section 2(1); and(b)rezoned at any time on or after 1 April 1998 pursuant to any alteration to the Master Plan (other than an alteration made in relation to any application for permission to develop under the Planning Act 1998) and is still zoned for a purpose other than that declared by the Minister under that paragraph (h),that foreign person —(c)is required to make an application to the Controller for the grant of approval to develop the land for that purpose prior to the foreign person making an application to the competent authority appointed under the Planning Act 1998 for permission to develop; and(d)must not be granted planning permission or conservation permission unless the foreign person has been granted prior approval by the Controller in accordance with this section.(2) A certification by the competent authority appointed under the Planning Act 1998 certifying that an alteration to the Master Plan was approved by the Minister in relation to an application for planning permission or conservation permission under that Act is conclusive evidence of the matters stated therein.(3) The Controller may, with the Minister’s approval, grant approval under subsection (1) subject to such conditions as the Controller thinks fit, including all or any of the following:(a)that the applicant must carry out and complete the development of the land within such period as the Controller may determine;(b)that the applicant —(i)must not sell, assign, transfer, sublease or otherwise dispose of the land or any part thereof in its vacant or undeveloped state without the prior approval of the Controller, which may be granted with or without conditions; or(ii)must sell all the flats or dwelling houses in the development or, where the land comprises one or more buildings which have not been subdivided into units for sale, must sell the whole development, to citizens or approved purchasers within a period of 2 years from the date of the issue by the relevant authority of a temporary occupation permit or certificate of statutory completion, whichever is the earlier, in respect of such flats, dwelling houses or any of the buildings;(c)that, where the applicant is a company, limited liability partnership or society, a person who holds any shares in the company or who is a partner in the limited liability partnership or member of the society must not, without the approval of the Controller (which may be granted with or without conditions), sell, assign, transfer or otherwise dispose of any of the person’s shares or any interest in such shares to any other person, or resign as such partner or member, as the case may be;(d)that the applicant must provide such security as the Controller may determine for the purposes of complying with any condition the Controller imposes;(e)that the applicant must give an undertaking in writing to comply with the conditions the Controller imposes.(4) Subject to subsections (5) and (6), the Controller may extend any period mentioned in subsection (3)(a) or (b)(ii) and may, in his or her discretion, dispense with the requirement to provide security referred to in subsection (3)(d).(5) The Controller may, when extending any period mentioned in subsection (3)(a) or (b)(ii), require the applicant to pay an extension charge of such amount as the Controller may determine.(6) Any extension charge payable under subsection (5) need not bear any relationship to the cost of considering an application for and granting an extension of any period mentioned in subsection (3)(a) or (b)(ii).(7) Where an applicant has failed to comply with any condition imposed by the Controller, the Controller may do all or any of the following:(a)in the case of a condition the compliance with which security has been provided under subsection (3)(d) — the Controller may forfeit (in part or whole) the security provided by the applicant after giving 21 days’ notice in writing to the applicant of the Controller’s intention to forfeit the security and the grounds thereof;(b)in the case of any condition mentioned in subsection (3)(b)(i) relating to land or in subsection (3)(c) relating to shares in a company — the Controller may, by written notice, require the applicant to pay, within a specified period, a financial penalty of such amount (as the Controller thinks fit) not exceeding 50% of the market value of the land or shares concerned.(8) The quantum of the financial penalty required to be paid under subsection (7)(b) must take into account any security provided by the applicant under subsection (3)(d) and which has been forfeited under subsection (7)(a) in respect of the same contravention of any condition mentioned in subsection (3)(b) or (c).(9) Where an applicant is a company, limited liability partnership or society and the Controller is of the opinion that the failure of the applicant to comply with any condition mentioned in subsection (3)(b)(i) or (c) was committed with the consent or connivance of, or was attributable to any neglect on the part of any person who is a director of the company, a partner of the limited liability partnership or a member of the governing body or board of trustees of the society (as the case may be), the Controller must, together with the notice under subsection (7)(b) to the applicant, inform the person concerned of the Controller’s opinion, and that person is then jointly and severally liable with the company, limited liability partnership or society to pay the financial penalty imposed under subsection (7)(b).(10) Any financial penalty payable by any applicant or any person under subsection (7)(b) or (9) is recoverable by the Controller as a debt due to the Controller from that applicant or person.(11) Upon granting approval under subsection (1) to develop land subject to the condition mentioned in subsection (3)(b)(i), the Controller must immediately inform the Registrar who must enter —(a)on the relevant volume and folio of the land‑register in the Land Titles Registry of the Authority; or(b)in the books or other records maintained at the Registry of Deeds of the Authority,as the case may be, a notice warning persons dealing with the registered proprietor named therein that the registered proprietor is prohibited from selling, assigning, transferring, subleasing or otherwise disposing of the land in its vacant or undeveloped state.(12) The Registrar must cancel the notice of warning mentioned in subsection (11) if the Controller directs that the notice be cancelled; and the Controller must make such a direction if he or she is satisfied that the temporary occupation permit or the certificate of statutory completion for the whole of the development has been issued by the relevant authority.(13) No claim may be made by any person against the Registrar for any loss or damage suffered if the notice mentioned in subsection (11) is not entered on the land‑register in the Land Titles Registry of the Authority or in the books or other records maintained at the Registry of Deeds of the Authority (as the case may be), or is cancelled pursuant to subsection (12).(14) For the purpose of determining under subsection (7) the financial penalty for contravening a condition, “market value” —(a)in relation to land — means the market value of the land at the date of the contravention of the condition as assessed by an independent valuer appointed by the Controller; and(b)in relation to shares in a company — means the market value of the shares at the date of the contravention of the condition.

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