Singaporean Fined Record 600000 Unauthorised Dormitory Accomodation
On June 14, a press release from the URA revealed that a 72-year-old Singaporean man named Tan Hock Keng had been found guilty of three counts of illegally converting private residential properties into dormitory accommodations. This unprecedented case resulted in Tan being fined a staggering $600,000, the maximum penalty of $200,000 for each charge.
The Ministry of Manpower’s enforcement officers had conducted inspections of private residential properties that were linked to Tan in December 2017 and March 2018. These investigations revealed that the number of tenants living in these properties far exceeded the occupancy cap set by URA.
Further investigations by URA discovered that one of the properties, located at 1012B Upper Serangoon Road, had 15 foreign workers residing in it, while another two properties at 32H and 32J Lorong 22 Geylang had 16 and 17 foreign workers respectively. These findings were in violation of URA’s regulations, which state that private residential properties are only allowed to house up to six unrelated individuals.
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It was later revealed that Tan had been providing dormitory accommodation at these premises for around two years. In addition, he had illegally converted eight other private residential properties into dormitories between 2016 and 2018, with the number of occupants in each unit ranging from seven to 23.
Despite being aware of the occupancy regulations, Tan chose to proceed with the illegal conversion of the properties. Martin Tan, director of URA’s Development Control Group, emphasized the negative effects of unauthorised dormitory accommodation on the surrounding neighbourhood and its residents. He also pointed out the potential harm to vulnerable groups who could be exploited in such situations.
In light of this, URA intends to maintain its strict enforcement measures against those who flout the regulations on the rental or subletting of private residential properties. This includes not only property owners and tenants, but also agents and anyone else found to be involved in such illicit activities.