Annual Revenue Received by SLA from Government Land Sales Since 2000
Ministry of LawSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the annual revenue derived from Government Land Sales (GLS) since 2000 for various housing categories, as raised by Mr Leong Mun Wai. Minister for Law K Shanmugam clarified that land sale proceeds accrue to Past Reserves as a conversion of physical assets to financial assets, making them unavailable for budget spending. He noted that SLA received an annual average of $5.2 billion from GLS sites between FY2001 and FY2021, with specific tender prices available on official websites. The Minister explained that HDB land purchases for public housing fall outside the GLS programme, with those specific proceeds documented in HDB’s annual financial reports. This framework maintains the principle that selling scarce land assets converts physical wealth into financial reserves rather than generating spendable revenue.
Transcript
7 Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for Law for each year since 2000, how much of annual revenue from Government Land Sales received by SLA are derived from (i) public housing (ii) private housing and (iii) non-housing use, respectively.
Mr K Shanmugam: I will clarify one point first. Land is a scarce asset which is protected as Past Reserves. The sale proceeds from land are added to Past Reserves on this principle: when Land is sold, no new wealth is created – it is a conversion of physical assets to financial assets.
Thus, as the Member may be aware, proceeds from land sales accrue fully to Past Reserves and are not available as revenue for spending in the Budget.
The land sold to the private sector for development is done mainly via open tender through the Government Land Sales Programme (GLS).
From FY2001 to FY2021, SLA received an average of $5.2 billion annually from GLS sites for public housing, where such housing is developed by the private sector1, private housing2 and non-housing use. The historical data on tender prices for GLS sites and their respective uses can be found on the HDB, Urban Development Authority and Jurong Town Corporation websites. These proceeds, the average of $5.2 billion per year, were paid into the Reserves, as physical assets (land) were converted into financial assets.
Sale of state land to HDB for public housing development does not fall under GLS. The information on proceeds to SLA paid by HDB for the purchase of state land can be found in HDB’s annual financial statements report, which is published on HDB’s website.