Unit 1.6 Paper 1

The State Lands Act for the RES Exam

Last reviewed 11 October 2026

Unit 1.6 looks at land from the other side of the transaction: the State as owner and grantor. The State Lands Act 1920 governs how State land is alienated and occupied, and the unit also pulls in the Temporary Occupation Licence, the Land Betterment Charge and compulsory acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act. The examinable material is mostly process and principle rather than figures, which makes it reliable marks.

Key points

The State Lands Act 1920 regulates the alienation and occupation of State land and is administered by SLA; grants and State leases are in prescribed form and signed by the Collector (s 11(1)).
Section 8 allows alienation as a surface parcel, as a separate parcel of airspace or subterranean space, or down to a specified depth only.
Where no depth is specified in the State title, subterranean space extends to minus 30.000 metres from the Singapore Height Datum (s 9(1)(b)).
State titles carry implied covenants (s 13) including no assignment or demise in parcels except a lease of not more than 7 years, enforced by the Collector’s right of re-entry and forfeiture (s 14(1)(e)).
SLA’s consent as lessor to vary a title restriction is separate from URA planning permission; both may be needed.
A TOL is a licence, not an interest in land: it cannot be registered, caveated or sold, and gives no proprietary right to compensation.
Land Betterment Charge replaced Development Charge, Differential Premium and the Temporary Development Levy on 1 August 2022, at about 70% of the value uplift from a chargeable consent (as at October 2026).
Acquisition runs notice, inquiry, award, payment and possession, then appeal to the Appeals Board; compensation is market value at the date of acquisition since the 2007 amendments.

What the State Lands Act does

The State Lands Act 1920 is, in its own words, an Act to regulate the alienation and occupation of State lands. It is administered by the Singapore Land Authority, and provides for a Commissioner of Lands appointed by the Minister to oversee its general administration (section 6) and for a Chief Valuer who values State lands and lands managed for the Government (sections 3 and 4).

Rules for the disposal or temporary occupation of State lands are made under section 7, and every grant or State lease must be in the prescribed form and signed by the Collector (section 11(1)). The Act uses “grant” to mean a grant in perpetuity, and “State title” to cover a grant, a grant in fee simple or estate in perpetuity, and a State lease of whatever tenure (section 2). That is the bridge back to unit 1.5: what the State hands out is a perpetual estate or a term of years.

Surface, airspace and subterranean parcels

Section 8 sets out three modes in which State land may be alienated, leased or licensed: as a parcel of the surface of the earth, together with so much of the subterranean space below and the column of airspace above as is reasonably necessary for the use and enjoyment of the land; as a parcel of airspace or subterranean space, whether or not held apart from the surface; or only down to such depth below the surface as the President may by order direct.

Section 9 fixes what “reasonably necessary” means below ground. Where the State title specifies a depth, that depth applies; where it does not, the subterranean space extends to minus 30.000 metres from the Singapore Height Datum. Section 9 sets no default height for airspace: it says only that nothing in it affects any rule of law on the ownership of a column of space above a defined surface parcel. It also leaves untouched the State’s reservations of minerals, oil, gas and other natural deposits.

So a surface title does not carry unlimited rights above or below, and parcels of airspace or subterranean space can be alienated separately.

Surface parcel, with the subterranean space and airspace reasonably necessary for its use (s 8(a))
A separate parcel of airspace or subterranean space (s 8(b))
A surface parcel limited to a specified depth by Presidential order (s 8(c))

Covenants and conditions in a State grant or State lease

Section 13 implies covenants binding the grantee and successors: to pay the rent as periodically revised, to maintain the landmarks marking the boundaries, not to use the land for burial without the Minister’s written permission, and not to assign or demise the land in parcels rather than as a whole — with an exception for a lease of not more than seven years. Section 13(2) provides that these covenants run with the land.

Section 14 implies conditions, including a royalty reserved to the State on the gross produce of mines and minerals other than laterite, and free access for the Collector and government workmen. Section 14(1)(e) is the enforcement mechanism: where the grantee breaches the section 13 covenants other than those as to rent and landmarks, the Collector may re-enter on the State’s behalf, and on re-entry the land is forfeited to and vests in the Government. Section 17 separately provides for forfeiture where land granted free or at a nominal rent for religious or charitable purposes is used otherwise without the President’s written consent.

Two examinable consequences follow. A State lease restricts the land to the use stated in the title, so changing or intensifying the use requires SLA’s consent as lessor to lift or vary the restriction — a separate approval from planning permission granted by URA under the Planning Act, and one does not substitute for the other. Second, paying the rent does not cure a breach of a use or subdivision covenant; the State’s remedy is re-entry.

Temporary Occupation Licences

A Temporary Occupation Licence, or TOL, is SLA’s permission for the temporary use of State land: worksites, temporary parking, regularising minor encroachments, allowing occupiers to stay on in properties the Government has acquired pending development, and short-term event spaces, which SLA offers for events of up to 90 days.

The point the exam tests is legal rather than practical. A TOL is a licence: a personal permission to occupy, not an estate or interest in land. Several consequences follow, and each has been used as a distractor. A TOL cannot be registered under the Land Titles Act as a lease, and never becomes a registrable lease however long it runs. A TOL holder cannot lodge a caveat, because a caveat protects a claimed interest in land and a licensee has none. A TOL cannot be sold as a property, and a TOL holder has no proprietary interest to be compensated for on an acquisition: its rights depend on the terms of the licence, which the State may terminate accordingly.

Land Betterment Charge

Where a public consent increases the value of land, the State takes most of the uplift. As at October 2026 this is done through the Land Betterment Charge, which commenced on 1 August 2022 and is administered by SLA. It replaced three earlier charges: Development Charge, Differential Premium and the Temporary Development Levy. Any reference to “differential premium” as a current charge is out of date, although you will still hear the term used.

The charge is triggered by a chargeable consent that raises land value — for example planning permission for redevelopment or intensification, a change of use, or the lifting of a title restriction. It is levied at about 70 per cent of the uplift, so the owner retains roughly 30 per cent. SLA’s rate tables are revised in March and September, with spot valuation where they do not apply, and the charge is payable within one month of the Liability Order (figures as at October 2026).

Calculation questions are straightforward: subtract the pre-consent value from the post-consent value, then take 70 per cent. The conceptual trap runs the other way: a purchase at a higher price, with no consent granted, creates no betterment, so no charge arises. Nor is the charge a fine that legalises an unauthorised use.

Compulsory acquisition and the Appeals Board

Compulsory acquisition sits under the Land Acquisition Act 1966, a separate regime, but the syllabus treats the two together because both concern the State’s dealings with land. SLA describes the process in five steps: a notice of acquisition describing the property and giving the date of the Collector’s inquiry; the inquiry, at which owners may submit their claims; the Collector’s award stating the compensation; payment and the taking of possession; and an appeal by anyone dissatisfied with the award.

Three points are tested heavily. The inquiry precedes the award, not the other way round. The appeal lies to the Appeals Board, not to URA. And SLA states that paying the compensation and handing over the land do not affect an ongoing appeal, because the appeal concerns the amount of compensation, not whether the State may take the land.

On the measure of compensation, the 2007 amendments to the Land Acquisition Act made market value as at the date of acquisition the basis. The older rule, which took the lower of market value at acquisition and the value at a “statutory date” last pegged at 1 January 1995, no longer applies. Compensation is not determined by what the owner paid, by historical peak prices, or by the owner’s agreement, and a caveat cannot stop a statutory acquisition.

Foreshore, reclaimed land and boundaries

Reclamation and the seaward edge of Singapore are dealt with by the Foreshores Act 1920, an Act to provide for reclamations and to validate and facilitate leases or grants of foreshores and submerged lands. Section 4 authorises the Government to construct works and reclaim foreshore or seabed. Under section 5(1) the President may by proclamation in the Gazette declare reclaimed lands to be State land, which then vests in the State freed and discharged from all public and private rights. Section 9(1) allows leases of the foreshore and seabed declared not to be a substantial infringement of public rights, and section 10(1) allows licences for their temporary occupation for up to one year.

Boundaries are a survey matter. The Boundaries and Survey Maps Act 1998 provides for the demarcation of land and the maintenance of boundary marks, defines a cadastral survey as one that records property limits and division lines, and is administered by a Chief Surveyor appointed by the Minister (section 3(1)). Its definition of “land” includes a parcel of airspace or subterranean space — the same conception of land as section 8 of the State Lands Act. Surveyors themselves are regulated under the Land Surveyors Act 1991, which establishes the Land Surveyors Board.

Terms to know

Alienation: The disposal of State land by the State, whether by a grant in perpetuity, a grant in fee simple or estate in perpetuity, or a State lease.
State title: Under the State Lands Act, a grant, a grant in fee simple or estate in perpetuity, or a State lease of whatever tenure.
Collector: The officer who signs grants and State leases in the prescribed form and who may re-enter State land on the State’s behalf for breach of the implied covenants; also the officer who holds the inquiry and makes the award in a compulsory acquisition.
Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL): SLA’s permission to occupy State land temporarily; a personal licence that creates no estate or interest in the land.
Land Betterment Charge (LBC): The charge, administered by SLA since 1 August 2022, on the increase in land value arising from a chargeable consent such as planning permission or the lifting of a title restriction.
Subterranean space: The subsoil below the surface of the earth; where a State title specifies no depth it extends to minus 30.000 metres from the Singapore Height Datum.
Appeals Board: The body to which a person dissatisfied with the Collector’s award of compensation in a compulsory acquisition may appeal.
Cadastral survey: A survey that records property limits and division lines, carried out under the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act framework.

Frequently asked questions

Does owning a surface plot mean I own the airspace above it and everything below?

No. Under section 8(a) of the State Lands Act a surface parcel carries only so much of the subterranean space and the column of airspace as is reasonably necessary for the use and enjoyment of the land. Where the State title specifies no depth, section 9(1)(b) limits the subterranean space to minus 30.000 metres from the Singapore Height Datum, and airspace and subterranean parcels can be alienated separately from the surface.

What is a Temporary Occupation Licence and what rights does it give?

It is SLA’s permission to occupy State land temporarily, used for worksites, temporary parking, regularising minor encroachments, short-term event spaces and continued occupation of acquired properties pending development. It is a licence, so it confers no estate or interest in land: it cannot be registered as a lease or protected by a caveat, and the holder’s rights come only from the terms of the licence.

What replaced the differential premium?

The Land Betterment Charge, which commenced on 1 August 2022 and is administered by SLA. It replaced Development Charge, Differential Premium and the Temporary Development Levy, and is levied at about 70 per cent of the increase in land value resulting from a chargeable consent such as planning permission or the lifting of a title restriction (as at October 2026).

How is compensation for compulsory acquisition worked out?

Since the 2007 amendments to the Land Acquisition Act, compensation is based on market value as at the date of acquisition. The earlier rule, which capped compensation by reference to a statutory date last pegged at 1 January 1995, no longer applies. What the owner originally paid and past peak market prices are irrelevant.

If I appeal against the Collector’s award, can I refuse to hand over the land?

No, and there is no need to. SLA states that payment of compensation and the taking of possession do not affect an appeal that is under way. The appeal to the Appeals Board is about the amount of compensation, not about whether the State may acquire the land, and any increase ordered on appeal is paid in addition.

Is reclaimed land State land?

It becomes State land when the President declares it so by proclamation in the Gazette under section 5(1) of the Foreshores Act 1920. The land then vests in the State freed and discharged from all public and private rights, and may afterwards be alienated like other State land.

Official sources

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