What is the Singapore Land Authority (SLA)?
The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is a statutory board operating under the Ministry of Law. It is a governmental organisation established by the Singapore Land Authority Act, which was formed through the merger of the Land Office, the Singapore Land Registry, the Survey Department, and the Land Systems Support Unit.
With the core mission of optimising land resources, the SLA aims to facilitate Singapore’s social and economic development by maximising the utilisation of land.
What does the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) do?
The SLA has a dual role, combining developmental and regulatory functions. In its developmental capacity, the SLA is responsible for:
- Maintaining the national land information database.
- Managing State land through land sales, leases, acquisitions, and allocations.
- Developing and promoting the optimal utilisation of State properties for the public’s benefit.
- Establishing geospatial data infrastructure and policies to facilitate knowledge creation and value generation for the Government, businesses, and the community.
As a regulatory entity, the SLA serves as Singapore’s national authority for land registration. It oversees property transactions’ registration and manages the national land survey system. Several divisions within the SLA handle legal and regulatory matters, including the Legal Division, Land Survey Division, Land Titles Registry, and Conveyancing Planning Unit.
The regulatory role of the SLA encompasses several crucial responsibilities:
- Managing property registration by maintaining two land registers. This would be the Register of Deeds and the Land Titles Register.
- Granting permissions for foreign ownership of properties as per the Residential Property Act.
- Regulating property boundary surveys, known as cadastral surveys, conducted by Registered Surveyors.
- Overseeing the regulation of rental, sale, and purchase transactions involving State properties under the State Lands Act.
- Making vacant State land available to the public for community use when immediate development is not required.
The information provided was accurate at the time of publication. For the latest changes and updates, head over to the official website.
