Foreigners may find staying in a hotel room for the whole duration of their stay in Singapore to be a truly expensive quandary. One solution to this costly predicament is buying a residential property in the city-state.

The Singapore government does not prevent foreigners from purchasing or acquiring residential properties in the country.

The Residential Property Act of Singapore essentially supports Singapore nationals in their acquisition of their own residential properties by offering reasonable prices. Moreover, this Act supports expatriates who are considered by the Singapore government to have made important contributions to the economic prosperity of the city-state in their desire to purchase residential properties within Singapore.

Non-restricted residential properties can be bought by expatriates even without prior sanction from the Singapore government. Non-restricted residential properties are identified as whichever of the following:

- apartment units within a building that is not more than 6 floors in height – condominium units in authorized condo development properties stipulated in the Planning Act – a lease agreement on a restricted property; the agreement should not exceed seven years

A foreigner may wish to buy all units in an apartment or condominium; still, before he or she can accomplish this, Singapore’s Minister of Law must grant an official sanction.

In the same vein, a foreign national cannot buy or acquire residential properties that are classed as restricted not unless he or she has been granted an official sanction by Singapore’s Minister for Law to purchase any such residential property.

Under the Residential Property Act of Singapore, the following are categorized as restricted residential properties:

- a vacant residential lot – town houses, detached or semi-linked houses, or terraced houses built on residential lots – lots not authorised for condo development under the Planning Act

In applying for approval to be able to buy a restricted residential property, the foreigner must fill out a form and, together with the required supporting papers, send this to the Singapore Land Authority. The bureau is responsible for appraising the foreigner’s eligibility to acquire a restricted residential property and for giving the official sanction if it finds the expat’s qualifications unquestionable.

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