Written Answer by Minister for Law K Shanmugam to PQ on Breakdown of Government Land Sales Revenue by Usage in Past Five Years

10 Jan 2023 Posted in Parliamentary speeches and responses

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Member of Parliament for Sengkang GRC)

Question
To ask the Minister for Law in each of the past five years, what proportion of Government land sales revenue is attributable to (i) commercial (including hotel and white sites) (ii) industrial (iii) private residential and (iv) public residential (HDB), respectively.

Written Answer:

1. The sale of State land to the private sector for development is primarily conducted through the Government Land Sales Programme (GLS). The Housing and Development Board (HDB), JTC Corporation, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) are appointed as the Government’s land sales agents.

2. From FY2017 to FY2021, sales proceeds of State land from GLS averaged $5.5 billion annually. This includes GLS sites for commercial, industrial¹, private residential, mixed-use (such as mixed commercial and residential developments), and other uses. The historical data on tender prices for GLS sites and their specific uses can be found on the HDB, URA, and JTC websites.

3. Sale of State land to HDB for public residential development does not fall under GLS. For information on proceeds to SLA paid by HDB for the purchase of State land, the Member may refer to HDB’s annual financial statements reports, which are published on HDB’s website.

4. As explained before in this House², State land is part of Past Reserves. When land is sold, no wealth is created. The physical land, which is part of the Reserves, is converted into money which goes into the Reserves. The proceeds from the sale of State land thus go to the Past Reserves. The Government cannot use these monies.

^{1. Refers to sale of State land by JTC under the Industrial GLS programme.↩}

^{2. Refer to Singapore Parl Debates; Vol 95, Sitting No 73; 7 November 2022.↩}

Last updated on 10 January 2023