SINGAPORE - The Government has raised land betterment charge (LBC) rates for commercial and hotel uses but cut the rates for non-landed residential use, for the next half year.
Developers pay an LBC for the right to enhance the use of some sites or to build bigger projects on them.
There are no changes in LBC rates for landed residential and industrial uses, as well as for place of worship/civic and community institution use.
Also left untouched are the rates for the other use groups that cover open space/nature reserve, agriculture, and drains/roads/railways.
For non-landed residential use, the Government has reduced LBC rates by an average of 3 per cent for the period from Sept 1, 2023 to Feb 29, 2024. This contrasts with a 0.3 per cent increase in the previous revision for the March 1 to Aug 31 period this year.
For the use group that covers hotels and hospitals, LBC rates have gone up 3 per cent on average after being raised 1 per cent in the previous revision.
LBC rates for commercial use have inched up 0.4 per cent on average, after being left untouched in the previous revision.
The latest LBC rates were announced on Thursday, following a review by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) in consultation with the taxman’s chief valuer (CV).
The LBC rates are based on the CV’s assessment of land values and take into consideration recent land sales. They are stated according to use groups across 118 geographical sectors in Singapore.
For non-landed residential use, LBC rates have been reduced by between 3 per cent and 11 per cent in 111 geographical sectors, with no changes for the remaining seven sectors. The largest drop of 11 per cent was in the following four sectors:
- Sector 11 (Shenton Way/Straits Boulevard/Marina Boulevard/Raffles Quay)
- Sector 12 (Bayfront area/Marina Bay Sands)
- Sector 13 (Marina Mall/Marina Green/Marina South Drive/ Marina Boulevard/Marina Gardens Drive)
- Sector 14 (Central Boulevard/Marina Coastal Drive/Marina South Pier)
For the commercial use group, LBC rates have increased in 12 sectors by between 3 per cent and 4 per cent, with no changes in the remaining 106 sectors. The biggest rise of 4 per cent was in:
- Sector 16 (Duxton Road/Tanjong Pagar Road/Temple Street/Club Street/Mosque Street)
- Sector 21 (North Canal Road/Hong Kong Street/Lorong Telok)
- Sector 25 (Wilkie Road)
- Sector 28 (Aliwal Street/Arab Street/Haji Lane)
- Sector 30 (Sungei Road/Kelantan Lane)
- Sector 53 (Jalan Besar/Serangoon Road/Race Course Road)
- Sector 58 (Dorset Road/Gloucester Road/Owen Road)
- Sector 59 (Thomson Road Pan-Island Expressway/Central Expressway/Mandalay Road/Irrawaddy Road)
- Sector 93 (Still Road/East Coast Road)
- Sector 102 (Kallang Paya Lebar Expressway/Geylang area/Aljunied Walk/Sims Drive/Macpherson Road)
In the hotel/hospital use group, LBC rates have been increased in 116 sectors by 3 per cent to 5 per cent with no changes in the other two sectors.
The biggest rise of 5 per cent was in 11 sectors. These include areas such as Hill Street, Rochor Road, Raffles Avenue, Fullerton Road, Marina Bay Sands, Stevens Road, Cairnhill Road, Orchard Road, Somerset Road and Orchard Boulevard.
The 11 sectors also include locations such as Claymore, Tanglin, Cuscaden and Grange roads and Sentosa.
Under the Land Betterment Charge Act, which took effect on Aug 1, 2022, charges for the enhancement of land value were consolidated under the SLA.
The LBC regime replaced the development charge, temporary development levy, and differential premium regimes.
The DC Table of Rates were correspondingly replaced with the LBC Table of Rates, which will continue to be revised on a half-yearly basis. THE BUSINESS TIMES
