First normalise monetary policy, then adjust fiscal policy, it suggests

NOW that Asia is squarely on a V-shaped recovery path, it should be withdrawing the policy stimulus put in place during the recession, said the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Manila-based institution has upgraded its growth forecasts for the region in its latest twice- yearly Asian Economic Monitor, which it launched at the Singapore Marriott Hotel yesterday.

Growth in ‘emerging East Asia’, which the ADB defines as Asean, South Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, is now expected to come in at 8.1 per cent, up from the 7.7 per cent projected in April.

‘The stronger-than-anticipated export rebound and much-improved consumer confidence have helped the region’s economies recover faster than we expected,’ said ADB’s chief economist Jong-Wha Lee.

With the improved economic outlook, ‘it is now time for the region to unwind the policy stimulus’, said the ADB.

It recommended that the monetary policy be normalised first – that is, interest rates and exchange rates be raised to ‘normal’ pre-crisis levels – before the fiscal policy is adjusted.

This will allow economies in the region to continue using targeted fiscal measures to support domestic demand until it is clear that the private sector can take over, said Mr Srinivasa Madhur, senior director of ADB’s office of regional economic integration, which produced the Monitor.

Economies such as Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand have already begun tightening their monetary policy in recent months by raising their interest rates or, in Singapore’s case, letting the exchange rate appreciate.

As DBS head of economics and currency research David Carbon said, the tightening of policy in the fast-growing region is ‘bread and butter economics’.

‘Output in Asia is now back far above pre-crisis levels. Inflation is nearly back to average and it is sure to rise above average in the coming few months,’ he said in a recent report. ‘But interest rates remain far below average. Central banks have much work to do.’

Economies that have already begun to slowly unwind stimulus should continue in that direction, and those that have not may need to start soon, said the ADB.

China, however, should accelerate policy normalisation by letting the currency appreciate, among other things, it added.

Still, the pace of unwinding the stimulus must factor in risks facing the overall global economy, Mr Madhur said.

These include a marked increase in capital flows, which can be destabilising, and uncertainty about the sustainability of recovery in the United States and Europe.

On the bright side, the threat of steeply rising inflation has yet to materialise in Asia, despite rapid growth.

This is partly due to the time lag between a rise in output and the subsequent spike in hiring and wage costs, said Mr Madhur.

‘Inflation is still manageable but don’t be complacent because that condition may not last long as labour markets tighten,’ he added.

‘Although we don’t see huge problems of inflationary pressures as of now, the signs are there… (It’s) time to unwind now rather than wait for that day to arrive and then get panicky.’

Source: Straits Times, 21 Jul 2010

DEVELOPERS have been invited to lodge bids for a 4.1ha residential site in Jalan Eunos.

The 99-year leasehold land parcel can yield 525 low-rise housing units and is permitted a maximum gross floor area of 57,766 sq m.

The developer can opt to build landed homes of up to three storeys on the site, which is near the Eunos flyover.

The sale tender was launched by the Government yesterday.

CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho said the site is likely to fetch a land price of $218 million to $249 million, or $350 to $400 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). He said a low-rise condo on the site can probably fetch $850 psf on average.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak expects the site to attract lower bids of $280 to $320 psf ppr.

‘Developers may not want to bid very aggressively, given that there will be many sites coming up for sale,’ he said.

Yesterday, the Urban Redevelopment Authority also made available another residential site for sale if developers show interest.

This 1.8ha site is at the junction of Buangkok Drive and Sengkang Central, and is near the Buangkok MRT station. With a maximum gross floor area of 55,027 sq m, it can yield 495 apartments.

In response to the strong demand for private homes – and the resulting demand for land from developers – the Government has placed a record 31 sites on its land sales programme for the second half of the year.

The tender for the Jalan Eunos site closes on Sept 7.

Source: Straits Times, 21 Jul 2010

LICENSED moneylenders, hard hit by a new Bill that was passed in Parliament on Monday, say they are now left with no choice but to close down.

The new law disallows Housing Board home owners from using the proceeds of selling their homes as collateral for loans, or for the payment of debts, except under approved circumstances.

Simply put, this means moneylenders are now no longer able to lodge caveats against flats to ensure they get first bite of the proceeds from the property’s sale if the borrower cannot pay up.

The Straits Times understands that at least 10 moneylenders who focus on loans for home sellers will be putting up the shutters in the coming weeks.

Moneylenders’ Association of Singapore president David Poh said at least 30 members in his association are extremely discouraged by the changes.

In May, new rules prohibiting licensed moneylenders from working as property agents, and vice-versa, were announced.

One affected moneylender, who declined to be named, said she used to lodge caveats for the four cases she handles on average monthly.

‘Now the law has closed all our options, we have no choice but to wind up,’ said the 37-year-old.

Another moneylender, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, 44, said he will now focus on his property business. He started a moneylending arm late last year to complement his realty work.

‘Now I just want to collect the loans I have given out, and close down the moneylending firm,’ he said, adding that he used to lodge about two caveats monthly. ‘Without caveats as security, who wants to risk lending out large amounts?’

The growing practice by some moneylenders of exploiting cash-strapped home owners desperate for loans was first flagged in Parliament in April.

Industry players estimate that of the 260 licensed moneylenders in the market, at least 30 per cent regularly lodged caveats on their borrowers’ homes. There were 556 registered resale applications with caveats lodged by moneylenders in just the first half of this year, a spike from 546 for the whole of last year and just 12 in 2008.

Mr Poh’s committee held a meeting yesterday to discuss the impact of the new rules. ‘Those affected are rethinking how to continue their business,’ he said, adding that most moneylenders will raise their interest rates by at least 10 percentage points per annum, now that they do not have the security of caveats.

The new rules could also put loansharks back in business. ‘The demand for loans is still there. But if the people can’t get loans, they will turn to the illegal lenders,’ said Mr Poh.

Source: Straits Times, 21 Jul 2010

His comments come a day after law is passed to close loophole exploited by moneylenders

HOME owners desperate for cash should look at other options to raise the funds rather than resort to selling their flats, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.

‘They will have to find other sources of funds as… the whole (home ownership) scheme was designed to provide affordable, good quality homes for them, not to use that as a collateral or source of funds for other uses – whether for business or other things,’ he said.

Mr Mah’s comments came a day after a housing Bill was sped through Parliament and passed to close a loophole which had allowed moneylenders to lodge caveats on HDB flats to claim a stake in sale proceeds.

In the past year or so, there has been a spike in the number of moneylenders who exploited a legal loophole that allowed them to file caveats. This was the reason the Bill had to be passed urgently, said Mr Mah yesterday.

He noted that although there was nothing to stop owners from selling their flats prematurely to raise funds, public education was crucial in explaining to people why they should not do so.

‘We’ve always been telling people to be prudent, ‘don’t sell your flat unless you have alternatives’… that’s always been our message.

‘(If) they lose their flats, the roofs over their heads… where will they live, where will their children live?

‘We’ve decided to be prudent as far as HDB flats are concerned, (so) if you want to raise funds for business and other things… look for other sources of funds.’

Mr Mah was speaking on the sidelines of the Ministry of National Development (MND) scholarship ceremony. The ministry awarded 39 undergraduate scholarships out of 1,490 applications it received. Building and Construction Authority scholarship holder Lee Si Min, 19, who is going to Cambridge University to study engineering, said she had always been fascinated by buildings and wanted to work in a related field. ‘Being part of the ministry will enable me to contribute back to society when I’ve finished my studies,’ she said.

The ministry also awarded 12 postgraduate scholarships. The courses covered by all the scholarships are diverse, from agricultural economics to civil engineering, and sociology to urban planning.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Mah highlighted the recently concluded World Cities Summit hosted by Singapore where policymakers and industry professionals converged to discuss issues on governance, sustainable cities and fostering harmonious communities.

‘Just two generations ago, this would have been a most improbable feat for us… Once, some might have regarded us a tropical cesspit. Today, many parties… rank Singapore among the top 25 most liveable cities in the world,’ he said.

He urged the scholarship holders to ‘work hard, study hard, discover yourselves and find your passion’.

‘One day, we will welcome all of you back, joining us in this common journey to make Singapore a better home for all of us,’ he said.

Source: Straits Times, 21 Jul 2010

Govt outlines limits to the use of commercial complexes

NEW government guidelines have made clear that it is all right for religious organisations to make use of commercial premises for their activities, subject to certain limits.

Christian groups have been using places such as hotel function rooms and convention centres on weekends for a number of years, as reported in the media.

From now, no more than 20,000 sq m of a commercial complex’s gross floor area (GFA), or 20 per cent of GFA, whichever is lower, may be used for religious purposes. And such activities may be held for no more than two days a week.

A religious organisation is also limited to using 10,000 sq m, which is equivalent to about 11/2 football fields. This will ensure that a religious organisation does not dominate a particular commercial complex.

In a joint statement, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) explained they were prepared to exercise some flexibility and allow commercial premises such as hotels, auditoriums, function halls, convention centres and cinemas to be used in a ‘limited, non-exclusive way’ by religious groups that hold large gatherings.

This is provided the events do not cause noise, traffic or parking problems. To protect the secular nature of the venues, there must also be no signage or religious symbols, and the interiors should not be furnished to resemble a worship hall when not used by the religious group.

The guidelines take effect immediately and apply to all religions. Religious organisations using commercial space will have to register with the URA.

The clarification of land use rules was received with relief as most churches are currently not at any risk of flouting the rules.

It is understood that the URA discussed the guidelines on Monday with representatives of the bigger megachurches – 33,000-strong City Harvest Church, 10,000-strong Faith Community Baptist Church and 20,000-strong New Creation Church – and their landlords, Singapore Expo and Suntec Singapore.

Currently, Faith Community Baptist Church and City Harvest Church use less than 10,000 sq m atthe Singapore Expo each.

City Harvest Church has also made a controversial $310 million investment to become a co-owner of Suntec Singapore and hold services in a 12,000-seat auditorium there.

Regarding City Harvest’s purchase, a URA spokesman told The Straits Times it does not regulate property ownership.

‘However, the actual use of the premises must adhere to the planning and land use zoning intentions regardless of the ownership. The contractual agreement between City Harvest and Suntec City is a private matter between the two parties,’ he said.

A City Harvest spokesman said: ‘We are currently liaising with the relevant land owners and studying the implications of the new guidelines. City Harvest will abide by the new guidelines.’

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak saidthe guidelines make sense.

‘Rather than let religious organisations slowly take over commercial spaces and make other users feel uncomfortable, the guidelines ensure that members of the public of all religions can use the premises,’ he said.

National University of Singapore cultural geographer Lily Kong welcomed the guidelines, saying secular spaces should not be entirely off-limits to religious groups.

‘What this new set of guidelines does is to relax the clear compartmentalisation of land use in a cautious and regulated way,’ she said.

However, Senior Pastor Lawrence Khong of Faith Community Baptist Church felt that such explicit guidelines could be restrictive and preferred leaving it to the market to ‘self-regulate’.

For example, he said, it would be in landlord Singapore Expo’s interests to safeguard its commercial character and not lease all its space to religious groups.

For landlord Suntec Singapore, which currently leases space to New Creation Church, the guidelines mean ‘business as usual’.

A spokesman said: ‘We are in compliance with the guidelines set forth by the authorities.’

New Creation Church declined to comment.

Source: Straits Times, 21 Jul 2010

THE government has put a site at Jalan Eunos up for tender – the fourth residential plot from the confirmed list to be launched this month.

On top of this, it has made a plot on the reserve list at Buangkok Drive/Sengkang Central available for application. The two sites will add an estimated 1,020 units to the residential supply pipeline if they are sold.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released details of the sites yesterday. The 99-year leasehold plot at Jalan Eunos is 4.1 hectares and can be developed into a condominium, or landed or strata landed housing project.

The site has a maximum permissible gross floor area (GFA) of 621,787 sq ft for a condominium project, potentially yielding 525 units.

It is next to the Pan-Island Expressway and some distance from the Eunos and Kembangan MRT stations. Nature lovers are likely to appreciate having Bedok Town Park and the Siglap Park Connector nearby.

Knight Frank consultancy and research manager Ong Kah Seng expects about five developers to show interest in the site. The winning bid could range from $380-420 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Interest for state land is ‘expected to moderate in view of the substantial supply available’ through the second-half 2010 government land sales (GLS) programme, Mr Ong said. Nevertheless, developers that need to replenish land banks are likely to ‘remain open in acquiring sites with potential’.

CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho believes the site could draw bids of $350-400 psf ppr.

Over at Buangkok Drive, interested developers can start submitting applications for a 99-year leasehold 1.8 ha site. It has a maximum GFA of 592,305 sq ft and can accommodate an estimated 495 units.

The plot is near Buangkok MRT station. It is also not far from Punggol Park and several schools such as Nan Chiau High and North Vista Primary.

Knight Frank’s Mr Ong expects ‘modest interest’ in this site, as two other plots for executive condominiums were launched in the vicinity in H1.

URA reiterated yesterday that the second-half GLS programme will have 18 residential sites on the confirmed list and another 13 on the reserve list, which can generate 13,905 units in all.

Later this month, URA will launch a confirmed list white site – at Peck Seah and Choon Guan streets – for sale.

Source: Business Times, 21 Jul 2010

After sliding 22% last year, rates are expected to increase by 5-10% this year

AVERAGE daily serviced apartment rental rates for the high-end and mid-tier segment here are expected to increase by about 5 to 10 per cent this year after sliding 22 per cent for the whole of last year, says Savills Singapore.

The property consultancy’s index for serviced apartment rents in the segment reflects a 2.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase in Q1 2010. On average, daily rates ranged from $260-320 for mid-tier and high-end service apartments in Q1 2010. In a report on the Singapore serviced apartment market released yesterday, Savills noted that demand prospects are generally looking positive while supply is relatively stable.

‘Going forward, the economy is likely to see firmer growth with many multinational companies expecting to increase their headcount this year. The latest survey by Hudson, a US-based employment services firm, shows that 51 per cent of the 400 companies surveyed intend to hire in Q1 2010, an increase from 34 per cent in Q4 2009. This could lead to a larger pool of expatriates working in Singapore in the coming quarters,’ Savills said.

There are currently about 50 developments with a total of over 4,600 serviced apartments in Singapore. In the next four years (up to 2014), a further supply of about 1,200 units from eight developments are expected to enter the market, including the 300-unit Modena Singapore, 305-unit Park Avenue Residences Changi (both at Changi Business Park) and 370-unit Park Avenue Suites Rochester at Fusionopolis.

The average occupancy rate for high-end and mid-tier serviced apartments stood at 86 per cent in Q1 this year, reflecting a 1.5-percentage point rise from the preceding quarter and a 15.7-percentage point surge from the same period last year amid the economic recovery.

During the global financial crash, when many MNCs scaled back their operations in Singapore, the occupancy rate slipped from 89 per cent in Q3 2008 to a low of about 70 per cent in Q1 2009.

Savills noted that during the past two years, more high-end serviced apartments have come onto the market, including Ascott Raffles Place Singapore, Pan Pacific Serviced Suites and Orchard Scotts Residences. Asking rents for one-bedroom units can range from $16-20 per square foot per month.

‘Highlights at the Pan Pacific Serviced Suites include grocery delivery, luggage packing services, a selection of pillow and bath menus and a 20-metre swimming pool filled with mineral water,’ Savills noted in its report.

While most (81 per cent) of serviced apartments on the island are well located in prime districts, the industry is seeing a rising trend in the number of serviced apartments being built in the city fringe or suburban areas, especially near new regional hubs or commercial zones.

Most of these comprise mid-tier serviced apartments or budget serviced apartments with monthly asking rents of $10-13 psf or $6-7 psf respectively for a one-bedroom unit. An example is Fraser Place Fusionopolis, which opened last year to serve expats working at the biomedical, infocomm and media hub of Buona Vista’s one-north.

Currently, Far East Organization has the lion’s share or 24.8 per cent of Singapore’s stock of serviced apartments. Far East’s serviced apartments inventory is spread across more than 10 developments.

The Ascott Ltd, including Ascott Residence Trust, is in second position, with a 20.5 per cent share, followed by Frasers Hospitality Pte Ltd (9.7 per cent), Allgreen Properties (6.3 per cent) and Tan Chong Realty (5.1 per cent).

Source: Business Times, 21 Jul 2010

LAST week, CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) sold its StarHub Centre at Cuppage Road, a 10-storey predominantly office building, to Frasers Centrepoint Ltd for $380 million, a whopping 42.5 per cent above the most recent valuation of the asset as at June 30, 2010.

In January, the trust’s manager had already revealed that it had obtained outline planning permission (OPP) from the Urban Redevelopment Authority to change the use of the property to residential (capped at 80 per cent of gross floor area) and commercial use from its current zoning of purely commercial use. The StarHub Centre site has a balance lease term of about 85 years.

The sale took place after an expression of interest exercise followed by a private tender.

Besides Frasers Centrepoint, other parties that took part in the bidding process are said to have included GuocoLand.

What was probably the deal clincher for Frasers Centrepoint is that it did not make major conditions or seek provisions which would give it the right to rescind the purchase of the property. CCT’s manager in its release last Friday said StarHub Centre’s sale was not subject to any additional planning or redevelopment approval of any kind following the OPP.

Also, the transaction was not subject to approval for a top-up of the site’s lease, although it revealed that on July 13, Singapore Land Authority gave in-principle lease upgrade approval to top up the site’s lease to 99 years. Frasers Centrepoint also did not require that CCT fulfil the conditions of the in-principle lease upgrade approval.

More options

Frasers Centrepoint could afford not to demand such conditions because of its trump card – majority ownership of the next-door Centrepoint Shopping Centre. The latter fronts the Orchard Road shopping belt and gives Frasers Centrepoint more options than any other bidder that had vied with it for StarHub Centre, which is tucked behind Orchard Road and faces the Central Expressway.

With or without a lease upgrade for StarHub Centre and a redevelopment to a mostly-residential scheme, Frasers Centrepoint can tap more synergies from owning the two properties.

Currently, there is already a second-storey link between the two properties. If SLA proceeds to top up StarHub Centre’s lease to 99 years and URA gives the formal nod for the redevelopment of the property into a mainly residential scheme (60 to 80 per cent of gross floor area or GFA) with some commercial space, Frasers Centrepoint can do retail for the balance commercial component (which has to be 20 to 40 per cent of GFA according to the OPP) and integrate it better with Centrepoint Shopping Centre in front.

The residential component could be in the form of apartments – perhaps smallish units that can be sold at relatively high per square foot prices to help fund the retail portion of the redevelopment.

Who knows, the group could even seek and get permission from the authorities and build serviced apartments for the residential component since it has a serviced residences arm.

Frasers Centrepoint can also endure the risks in the event that the authorities don’t give the final approval for a lease top-up or if the lease upgrading premium Frasers Centrepoint has to pay the state does not make the lease extension an economically viable option. It may not even be too perturbed if URA does not give further planning approvals for the residential-commercial scheme stated in the OPP. If such a scenario materialises, Frasers Centrepoint may still find it worthwhile to redevelop StarHub Centre into a new full-retail project as an extension to Centrepoint Shopping Centre, which fronts Orchard Road.

Deal waiting to happen

Any other developer would be stuck if a lease upgrade is not granted since it would be difficult to redevelop and build a residential component and hope to sell apartments with 80-plus years’ remaining lease. Redeveloping StarHub Centre on the balance lease term into a full-commercial project may not be workable either. As a shopping centre, it is unlikely to do well because of its location, hidden behind the main shopping belt.

Building offices may also not be an attractive venture as office rents in the location are below those in the financial district. As a DMG & Partners Research report notes, ‘at the peak of the office market StarHub Centre had an average passing rent of below $5 psf a month, significantly lower than most schemes in the Raffles Places and Tanjong Pagar vicinity’.

That was probably why CCT came to the conclusion that StarHub Centre had reached its optimal stage of life cycle as an office building.

CCT’s manager was not keen on exposing the trust to the risks in the residential market by undertaking, either solo or on a joint-venture basis, a redevelopment of StarHub Centre into a predominantly residential project.

Even if the trust had sold the asset to its parent, CapitaLand, the latter would not have had as many options as Frasers Centrepoint does. Put simply, CCT’s sale of StarHub Centre to Frasers Centrepoint was a deal just waiting to happen.

Source: Business Times, 21 Jul 2010

The bottom line improved despite a 19% fall in revenue to $202.8m

KEPPEL Land plans to launch the first phase of a residential project next to Lakeside MRT station by the end of the year.

The development will have around 630 units, comprising one- to four- bedders. It will be on a 99- year leasehold site which the group won recently in a state tender.

Keppel Land said this yesterday as it released results for the second quarter ended June 30.

Net profit was $70.1 million, up 20 per cent year- on-year, driven by stronger performances across the property trading, property investment and fund management divisions.

The bottom line improved despite a 19 per cent fall in revenue to $202.8 million. Q2 earnings per share dipped 2 per cent to 4.9 cents.

For the first half, Keppel Land’s net profit was $134.7 million, increasing 42 per cent from a year ago.

Revenue dropped 9 per cent to $361.6 million. H1 earnings per share rose 15 per cent to 9.4 cents.

Keppel Land has been launching projects in the last few months and will continue to do so.

In Singapore, it held a second preview of Marina Bay Suites in Q2 and sold about 40 units. It also sold 77 units at Reflections at Keppel Bay in H1.

According to caveats lodged with the Urban Redevelopment Authority in June, five units at Marina Bay Suites changed hands at $2,261-2,680 psf.

In China, Keppel Land sold around 1,200 units in H1, mainly from townships in second-tier cities such as The Botanica in Chengdu.

Although the Chinese government has imposed measures to cool the property market, ‘we are still seeing resilience of demand for residential properties especially in middle-income homes in the second tier cities and suburban areas of first tier cities’, said Keppel Land CEO Kevin Wong at a briefing yesterday.

Apart from launching units at the Lakeside project, Keppel Land will also release the remaining 90 units at Marina Bay Suites and 384 units at Reflections at Keppel Bay.

The group is not too worried about the recent slowdown in new private home sales.

‘We don’t have that many units left, and ours are in locations of choice,’ said its chief financial officer Lim Kei Hin.

For high-end property, there is also room for prices to rise further as they have not reached pre-crisis levels, he added.

In China, Keppel Land will launch the 1,680-unit Seasons Park at Tianjin Eco-City. It also plans to roll out 260 units from 8 Park Avenue in Shanghai.

In the meantime, Keppel Land will be keeping an eye out for residential, commercial and mixed-use sites, said its CEO Mr Wong.

‘We will continue to look for opportunities to build up our land bank in Singapore, whether it is through government land sales or private transactions.’

Keppel Land gained 10 cents yesterday to close at $4.21.

Source: Business Times, 21 Jul 2010

Such premises can’t be owned or leased exclusively to religious bodies, guidelines say

(SINGAPORE) The government has clarified the extent to which commercial spaces can be used for religious activities.

The guidelines, which apply with immediate effect, include caps on how often religious activities can be held at commercial venues and how much space they can use in such buildings at any one time.

No more than 20,000 square metres or 20 per cent of any commercial development’s gross floor area (whichever is lower) can be considered for religious use. And each religious group can only use up to 10,000 sq m of commercial space at any one time.

Also, commercial premises cannot be used for religious activities for more than two days a week, including the weekend.

Owners of convention centres must also ensure that the religious use of their facilities does not compromise the staging of other events over weekends, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) said yesterday.

These premises ‘cannot be owned by or exclusively leased to religious organisations’ and ‘should be available to be rented out for other commercial events such as seminars, conferences and performances’, the guidelines said.

Questions had been raised earlier over whether recent investments by the New Creation Church and City Harvest Church (CHC) into commercial spaces constitute a ‘change of use’ of sites zoned for commercial rather than ‘place of worship’ use under URA’s Master Plan.

New Creation’s Rock Productions has a joint venture with CapitaMalls Asia to build a $1 billion lifestyle hub at one-north, which will have retail outlets, a concert hall and a theatre when ready in 2012. New Creation, which intends to hold church services there in future, yesterday said it would not be responding to media yet.

CHC said in March that it would spend $310 million on a minority stake in Suntec Singapore, rent and renovation costs, to move its weekly services from Singapore Expo to the convention centre next year. It told the media earlier that it would not have exclusive use of any area in Suntec.

A CHC spokesman said yesterday that the church is ‘liaising with the relevant land owners and studying the implications of the new guidelines’, adding that it would abide by these and provide a substantive reply in due time.

URA and MCYS’s joint statement said the guidelines are meant to allow flexibility for the limited religious use of commercial premises, while ensuring that their key use and character are not eroded. The idea is to make sure commercial spaces ‘remain secular spaces that can be enjoyed by people from all segments of society’, it said.

Currently, several groups lease commercial venues for regular religious services.

Singapore Expo leases Hall 8 to CHC and the Max Pavilion and Hall 9 to Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) on weekends. Each of these halls is 10,000 sq m in size, according to Singapore Expo’s capacity sheet. But FCBC told MediaCorp that it would not be affected by the new guidelines.

Rock Productions, the business arm of New Creation, leases the Rock Auditorium in Suntec City from Suntec REIT. Its Sunday services utilise the Rock Auditorium, which covers less than 3,500 sq m, as well as cinema halls and other overflow rooms in Suntec City.

URA said it receives requests from religious organisations to use commercial space for their activities ‘from time to time’ and has approved some of these proposals on a case-by-case basis. Now, guidelines are being made known to ‘provide greater clarity to religious organisations and building owners on what can and cannot be allowed within commercial developments’, the URA spokesman said.

Both Suntec REIT and Suntec Singapore, current landlords of organisations renting for religious use, agreed that the guidelines make clearer the extent to which religious use of commercial spaces is permissible. Suntec Singapore’s spokesman added: ‘We have provided organisations equal access to our venue for their activities. We will continue to do so in line with the spirit of the guidelines.’

Chandran Nair, deputy general manger of Singex Venues, managing company of Singapore Expo, said: ‘We are in full awareness and acceptance of the new guidelines. It is business as usual at Singapore Expo and we will continue to work with the authorities to ensure compliance.’

No records are kept of the total number of religious groups currently renting commercial premises for their activities, but URA said that those doing so on a regular basis are ‘advised to submit their proposed use together with the building owner’s consent to URA for consideration’.

It added that it is prepared to ‘exercise flexibility to allow some religious organisations sufficient time to meet the guidelines, or up to the expiry of their current licence or lease period in order to minimise disruptions to their current activities’.

Other rules laid down yesterday govern the appearance of premises being used for religious activities. No signs, advertisements or posters of the religious events can be displayed, and premises cannot be furnished to look like a worship hall. When not in use by the religious group, the venue should have no religious symbols, icons or paraphernalia too.

URA said that it does not regulate property ownership, but the actual use of premises must adhere to planning and land use zoning intentions regardless of ownership.

Source: Business Times, 21 Jul 2010