Land betterment charges to rise by 3.4% on average for non-landed residential, 3.5% for landed residential uses

[SINGAPORE] The government has raised average land betterment charge (LBC) rates in most property sectors in its latest half-yearly review.

Only rates for the use group that covers hotels and hospitals were left untouched.

Announced on Monday (Aug 31), the latest rates are for the six months starting on Sep 1. LBC rates were raised for residential, industrial, commercial and place of worship/civic and community institution uses.

Developers pay LBC for the right to enhance the use of some sites, or to build bigger projects on them.

LBC rates are announced twice a year, on Mar 1 and Sep 1, following a review by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), in consultation with the taxman’s chief valuer (CV).

The rates are based on the CV’s assessment of land values and take into consideration recent land sales.

LBC rates are stated according to use groups for 118 geographical sectors in Singapore.

For landed residential use, rates have gone up by 3.5 per cent on average. The rates in 108 sectors are being raised by about 2 to 8 per cent. There are no changes in the other 10 sectors.

LBC rates for non-landed residential use are being raised by 3.4 per cent on average. Rates have been upped in 70 sectors by about 1 to 29 per cent, with no change in the remaining 48 sectors.

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In the industrial use group, LBC rates have risen by 3.9 per cent on average. The rates in all 118 sectors were raised by about 2 to 10 per cent.

LBC rates for commercial use have risen by 1.7 per cent on average. The rates in 46 of the 118 sectors were raised by about 3 to 19 per cent; the rates in the remaining 72 sectors were left unchanged.

For the place of worship/civic and community institution use group, LBC rates were increased by 2.9 per cent on average in all sectors to “keep pace with the overall growth in land values”, said SLA in a statement.