Government to simplify change-of-use process for some commercial spaces: Chee Hong Tat
Moves to cut red tape, spur commercial activity include formalising the Business Improvement District programme to revitalise Republic’s nightlife scene
[SINGAPORE] The government intends to cut some real estate-related red tape for businesses, starting with streamlining its change-of-use process, said National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat.
During an interview with the media on Tuesday (Aug 5), Chee said businesses currently require the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) permission for change of uses within commercial spaces in JTC business parks, as well as community centres managed by the People’s Association.
This process takes about two weeks and costs S$500.
URA’s permission is required for land-based solar farm projects as well, with its application costing S$3,500, said Chee.
“We are working on streamlining the process, such that URA’s permission will no longer be required for such proposals,” he said. “Business owners will just need to obtain the respective landowners’ consent and comply with the relevant authority’s requirements for their proposals.”
At the same time, the Ministry of National Development will propose a new legislation to formalise the Business Improvement District (BID) programme.
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Since 2017, URA’s BID programme has been piloted in areas such as the Singapore River, Marina Bay, Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar. It aims to encourage stakeholders to take greater ownership to make the area more vibrant and attractive.
Under the programme, the government provides seed funding of up to S$500,000 per annum, through a dollar-for-dollar match for membership fees collected. The money then goes towards stakeholder-led place management initiatives, including targeted marketing, hospitality and events.
Given the pilot’s positive feedback so far, Chee said the authorities hope to formalise the BID model and scale up to more precincts across Singapore, collaborating with businesses to drive place management efforts.
“This will make our precincts livelier, bring businesses more footfall and benefit our community with more lifestyle options,” he said. “This includes working with the businesses via the BID model to revitalise our nightlife industry.”
Chee added: “Reviewing our rules and processes is an ongoing process that we will do, and I hope to work closely with the industry to find out which other areas we can help them in, to simplify our rules and processes, to cut red tape, and to bring down processing time and costs for businesses.”
Earlier in June, the government also revealed plans under the Draft Master Plan 2025 to review Singapore’s industrial land use zone guidelines, to better respond to evolving business needs.
Chee said then that moving away from mono-use zones to mixed-use districts will give developers greater flexibility on industrial land and enhance Singapore’s economic competitiveness.
More business-white sites will be introduced around key transport nodes in the Jurong and Tuas industrial estates, on top of existing sites in Woodlands, URA added, in the Draft Master Plan 2025.
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