CEA has issued guidelines on the new clauses from 1st of August when the new conveyancing rules start.
With effect from 1 August 2011, new measures to safeguard conveyancing as provided in the Conveyancing (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (Act 17 of 2011) shall come into force.
2. The new measures provide that in general conveyancing money will have to be held by the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) or if held by lawyers, conveyancing money will have to be held in a new type of bank account, called a Conveyancing Account.
3. Withdrawal or pay-out of money from Conveyancing Accounts will generally require two-party authorization. Further details of the new measures may be seen at www.conveyancing.sg.
4. By virtue of the new measures, in transactions where vendors would like deposits to be held on a stakeholder basis, Options to Purchase or Sale & Purchase Agreements would need to provide for the deposits to be paid to the SAL or Conveyancing Accounts of lawyers. In such transactions, estate agents or salespersons are required to inform their clients of the new measures and provide their clients with a copy of the enclosed pamphlet (which may be downloaded from www.conveyancing.sg)
5. The Practice Guidelines on Options to Purchase and Sale & Purchase Agreements (click here to download the guidelines) set out the clauses that estate agents or salespersons may use in their forms of Options to Purchase or Sale & Purchase Agreements to comply with the new measures.
6. The guidelines also require express provision to be made for the approval of the Controller of Residential Property (Land Dealings (Approval) Unit) to be obtained where the purchase of residential property by foreigners is restricted by the Residential Property Act. This provision is to notify parties of the need for such approval which is specified in the Residential Property Act.
