RENT DECONTROL - SINGAPORE'S EXPERIENCE

Abstract

The Control of Rent Act, originally intended to prevent rapacious landlords from exploiting the tenants of the controlled properties, has, over the years, prevented the landlords from getting economic returns and recovering their properties. The anachronism of the persisted law has become more glaring in the recent years and therefore it is inevitable that rent control has to be phased out. The government made the long-awaited announcement on October 6, 1988 to decontrol these rent- controlled properties. Following this decision, various measures were designed to alleviate any hardships that may be inflicted upon the displaced tenants. With decontrol, landlords are able to get speedier recovery of their properties at more reasonable compensations. In addition, it has brought about the economic, physical, equity and social effects, contributing positively to the whole economy. This phasing out of rent control programme is not only evident in Singapore but in many other places over the world. Their attempts were however not as successful as compared to Singapore. Therefore, the following dissertation is devoted to the above subjects, offering an insight into and update of the decontrol programme in Singapore. It is also the intention of the author to review the experiences of other countries in dealing with rent control.