Advice For Foreigners Wishing To Buy A House In Singapore
Foreigners may discover staying in a hotel room for the entire duration of their stay in Singapore to be a truly expensive quandary. If a expatriate owned a residential property in Singapore, the expensive dilemma could have been averted.
The Singapore government officials do not discourage foreigners from buying residential properties in the country.
Mainly, Singapore’s Residential Property Act intends to allow Singapore citizens to acquire, at affordable rates, their own residential properties. Also, the Act supports foreigners who have given a significant contribution to Singapore’s economy to acquire residential properties in the city-state.
Even without any permits or approval from the Singapore government, a foreigner may buy non-restricted residential properties. Non-restricted residential properties are described as any of the following:
- apartment flats within a structure that is not over six floors in height - condo units in authorized condominium development properties included in the Planning Act - a lease agreement on a restricted residential property; the contract should not exceed seven years
Official sanction from Singapore’s Minister of Law is required of expats who want to own all units in an apartment or condominium in an accredited development property.
Likewise, a foreigner who has no prior approval from Singapore’s Minister of Law cannot buy residential properties that are categorized as restricted.
Under the Residential Property Act of Singapore, the following are categorized as restricted residential properties:
- an empty residential land - townhouses, separate or semi-detached houses, or terraced houses built on residential lands - lands not authorized for condominium development under the Planning Act
The foreign national who wishes to buy a restricted residential property must fill out a form and then submit this, together with the requisite supporting papers, to the Singapore Land Authority. The bureau is accountable for assessing the expatriate’s merits to purchase a restricted residential property and for granting the official sanction if it finds the expat’s qualifications satisfactory.
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